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The Face of Battle

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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 Middle Ages Imperialism

Critic reviews

“The most brilliant evocation of military experience in our time.” (C. P. Snow, British novelist and scientist)
All stars
Most relevant
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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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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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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John Keegan's book is a classic. A difficult listen, although Simon Vance is excellent and in parts dated, it is still illuminating and well worth your time in understanding battle.

a classic

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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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