John Keegan was for
many years senior lecturer in military history at the Royal Military
Academy, Sandhurst, and has been a fellow at Princeton University and a
professor of history at Vassar College. He is the author of many
military history books, including the acclaimed The Face of Battle and
The Second World War. He lives in Wiltshire, England. Many of his
more popular published books are listed below. In addition
to those listed, he has also edited and provided the introduction
to over 100 publications.
In his characteristically wry and
perceptive prose, Keegan offers us nothing short of a new history of
war through the prism of intelligence. He brings to life the
split-second decisions that went into waging war before the benefit
of aerial surveillance and electronic communications. The English Admiral Horatio Nelson was hot on the heels of Napoleon’s fleet in
the Mediterranean and never knew it, while Stonewall Jackson was
able to compensate for the Confederacy’s disadvantage in firearms
and manpower with detailed maps of the Appalachians. In the past
century, espionage and decryption have changed the face of battle:
the Japanese surprise attack at the Battle of the Midway was
thwarted by an early warning. Timely information, however, is only
the beginning of the surprising and disturbing aspects of decisions
that are made in war, where brute force is often more critical.
The best one-volume treatment available, The
Second World War by John Keegan is an outstanding synthesis of
an enormous amount of material on "the largest single event
in human history." The book proceeds chronologically through
the war, but chapters appearing at appropriate moments focus on
particular themes, such as war production, occupation, bombing,
resistance, and espionage. Keegan's ability to translate the war's
grand strategies is impressive, and the battle descriptions are
superb.
This book is a fantastic piece of military
history: it is well written and researched, thoughtful, but not
overdone. Firstly, it gives a panoramic view of various
military societies, ranging from the Micronesian to the Romans to
the Mongols to the modern day armies of Europe. It gives the
reader a basic education in many different armies/military
societies from around the world. Also, A History of Warfare
has an interesting purpose: to essentially disprove the theories
of the 19th-century military philosopher Clausewitz, whose
philosophy Keegan believes led to the First World War. It
stands as a fine work of general military history and is highly recommended.
An
Illustrated History of the First World War carries us across the
Europe of nearly a century ago, revealing the devastation,
camaraderie, political machinations and battlefield maneuverings
that changed the world. It presents the essential cast of that
cataclysmic drama, from the decision makers at the top--Haig,
Joffre, Hindenberg, Pershing--to the troops in the trenches.
Through its unique amalgam of pictorial and narrative brilliance,
the book illuminates the war as no other work has done.
Keegan takes us behind the scenes of the
doomed diplomatic efforts to avert the catastrophe; he probes the
haunting question of how a civilization at the height of its
cultural achievement and prosperity could propel itself toward
ruin with so little provocation; his panoramic narrative brings to
life the nightmarish engagements whose names have become legend - Verdun, the
Somme,
Gallipoli - as with profound sympathy, he
explores the minds of Joffe, Haig and Hindenburg, the famed
generals who directed the cataclysm.
What is it like to be in
battle? John Keegan, a senior instructor at Sandhurst, the British
Military Academy, speaks for soldiers who were present in the fray.
For examples, Keegan selects Agincourt in 1415,
Waterloo in 1815,
and the Somme in 1916. What is common about them, what is
different? Agincourt was hand-to-hand combat, thrust and cut--a
fearful and personal encounter. At Waterloo, 400 years later, the
battle was still largely personal. As it swayed back and forth,
men on opposite sides came to recognize the same individuals they
had fought off in previous charges. Keegan closes his book with
the Somme. For him it stands as the distillation of wars in the
industrial age: long-distance killing of faceless men by others
who merely activate the instruments of destruction.
In this Penguin Life, the eminent historian
John Keegan charts Churchill's career, following his steadfast
leadership during the catastrophic events of World War II while
England was dangerously poised on the brink of collapse. With
wonderful eloquence, Keegan illuminates Churchill's incredible
strength during this crucial moment in history and his unshakable
belief that democracy would always prevail. Keegan looks at
Churchill's speeches, which are some of the greatest examples of
English oratory, and identifies his ability to communicate his own
idea of an English past as the source of Churchill's greatness. He
also sheds light on the political climate of Churchill's time. The
result is an insightful, sensitive portrait of Churchill the war
leader and Churchill the man.
John Keegan asks us to
consider questions that are seldom asked: What makes a great
military leader? Why is it that men, indeed sometimes entire
nations, follow a single leader, often to victory, but with equal
dedication also to defeat? Dozens of names come to mind...Napoleon,
Lee,
Charlemagne,
Hannibal,
Castro,
Hussein. From
a wide array, Keegan chooses four commanders who profoundly
influenced the course of history: Alexander the
Great, the Duke of
Wellington, Ulysses S. Grant and
Adolph
Hitler. All powerful
leaders, each cast in a different mold, each with diverse results.
John
Keegan's innovative approach to the invasion of Normandy correctly
observes that the invasion, while colossal, was merely the
beginning of a series of furious battles in northern France, and
Keegan accordingly tackles not only the actions of June 6, 1944,
but the subsequent Normandy campaigns by five Allied nations and
their German opponents. Focusing on specific actions, such as the
U.S. 101st Airborne night drop into France and the British
infantry battles surrounding the city of Caen, he provides an
exciting chronological account of the action in Normandy with
considerable depth about tactical decisions.
