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The Face of Battle

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The Face of Battle

By: John Keegan
Narrated by: Simon Vance
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About this listen

In this major and wholly original contribution to military history, John Keegan reverses the usual convention of writing about war in terms of generals and nations in conflict, which tends to leave the common soldier as cipher. Instead, he focuses on what a set battle is like for the man in the thick of it—his fears, his wounds and their treatment, the mechanics of being taken prisoner, the nature of leadership at the most junior level, the role of compulsion in getting men to stand their ground, the intrusions of cruelty and compassion, the din and blood.

Set battles, with their unities of time and place, may be a thing of the past, but this anatomy of what they were like for the men who fought them is an unforgettable mirror held up to human nature.

©1976 John Keegan (P)2001 Blackstone Audio, Inc. Europe Medieval Military Military science Western Europe War Imperialism

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Critic reviews

“The most brilliant evocation of military experience in our time.” (C. P. Snow, British novelist and scientist)
All stars
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An excellent read, read in beautifully spoken English. Not always the case on here.

Best of its kind

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What made the experience of listening to The Face of Battle the most enjoyable?

Insightful, thought-provoking, ahead of it's time, singular, inspiring, truthful.

Who was your favorite character and why?

The author.

Which character – as performed by Simon Vance – was your favourite?

N/a

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

You couldn't do it.

Any additional comments?

I have read this book several times and will continue to do so.

Simply Brilliant.

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Keegan successfully attempts to place the reader in amongst the action at Agincourt, Waterloo and the Somme with vividly immersive results. This not only makes for a thoroughly fresh and gripping perspective on familiar events but also also offers fascinating insights into how histories are written. Highly recommended; especially to anyone with an interest in how history makes it onto the page.

Why isn't all history written like this?

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While the author has produced a very good account of battles, I feel he is also attempting to test our vocabularies.
Far too much use is made of obscure language, and I became fed up of looking up my dictionary.
And I do not believe myself to be particularly thick.

Content good vocabulary too daunting.

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I loved this book. Insightful and learned yet witty and superbly written. The narration by Simon Vance (surely one of the very best narrators) could not be more perfectly suited to the text. Highly recommended for anyone interested in military history.

A genuine classic of military history

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... appropriate for a magnificently posh book. I'm not a military history aficionado, but thought this a very worthwhile introduction. This isn't just shout three battles in themselves (Agincourt, Waterloo, The Somme), but how we think about and write about battle.

Magnificently posh reading...

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Fantastic recreation of what each of the three battle must have been. John Keegan looks in from as many aspects as possible to give the reader the chance to piece as complete a picture as possible.

Backed by solid research, he zoom in and out of focus by switching from a broad cultural expose of the spirit of the age to the words of the people who actually took part in the events, making this one of the most vivid and interesting work of history I have come across.

Being French myself I couldn't help but notice a recurring theme, two of the three battles being famous french defeat, and the french crowd stands out somehow as a rather aloof bunch in both circumstances... I suppose those battle being so famous, they may be the ones for which most records were kept, and they may also have been the most studied and taught, John Keegan being an instructor at Sandhurst.

excellent historian work

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Even though I've studied history at university and read dozens of books on military history, listening to John Keegans work was kind of an eye-opener with its unique point of view on battle. If you'rr into military history, I strongly recommend reading the face of battle.

Great book

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This is an important book for any student of war, from one of its main analysts, John Keegan, who is highly regarded in his field. It is however a little dated, given its age and some parts have aged less well. But for dealing wtih principles, theory and practice, in a series of case studies, it remains very useful and informative and should be in the library of anyone interested in military history.

Relevant if somewhat dated

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I would like to read the follow up: “face of PTSD throughout history”.
A great book on why we should avoid war.

Great gruesomness and well written

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