The Face of Battle

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About The Face Of Battle

Product Description [This is the Audiobook CASSETTE Library Edition in vinyl case.] [Read by Robert Whitfield, aka Simon Vance] 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. Review ''The most brilliant evocation of military experience in our time.'' --C. P. Snow, New York Times bestselling author ''In this book, which is so creative, so original, one learns as much about the nature of man as of battle.'' -- New York Times Book Review ''A totally original and brilliant book.'' -- New York Times Review of Books ''This without any doubt is one of the half-dozen best books on warfare to appear in the English language since the end of the Second World War.'' -- Sunday Times (London) ''This is no ordinary book of military history. In fact, it's considered a classic . . . [Simon Vance's] reading matches the grace, intelligence, and pathos of Keegan's prose . . . A flawless reading.'' -- AudioFile ''A totally original and brilliant book.'' -- New York Times Review of Books ''This without any doubt is one of the half-dozen best books on warfare to appear in the English language since the end of the Second World War.'' -- Sunday Times (London) ''This is no ordinary book of military history. In fact, it's considered a classic . . . [Simon Vance's] reading matches the grace, intelligence, and pathos of Keegan's prose . . . A flawless reading.'' -- AudioFile About the Author JOHN KEEGAN is the defense editor of the Daily Telegraph (London) and Britain's foremost military historian. He is the author of many bestselling books, including The First World War, Intelligence in War, and The Battle for History. He lives in Wiltshire, England. From the Publisher 9 1.5-hour cassettes Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. PENGUIN BOOKS THE FACE OF BATTLE John Keegan was for many years Senior Lecturer at the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst. He is the author of many books on military history, including The Book of War, The Mask of Command, The Price of Admiralty, The First World War, The Second World War, and A History of Warfare. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. John Keegan The Face of Battle Penguin Books List of Illustrations between pages 192 and 193 1 Skull of a Swedish soldier killed in 1361 2 The effect of archery on cavalry at short range, 1356 3 A ‘wall of bodies’ of the dead and wounded, fifteenth century 4 Men-at-arms at the mercy of archers, fifteenth century 5 A square of Highlanders receiving cavalry at Waterloo 6 Scotland for Ever: Waterloo 7 A German attack on a British line of ‘scrapes’, autumn 1914 8 Russians charging a German or Austrian trench, autumn 1914 9 A French counter-attack at Dien Bien Phu, spring 1954 List of Maps 1 Agincourt, 25 October 1415 2 Waterloo, 18 June 1815 3 The Somme, 1 July 1916 4 Relative positions of the battles Acknowledgements This book has been written chiefly from printed sources, some of which are listed in the bibliography. But I have also derived much information and many ideas from colleagues, pupils and friends (it is one of the pleasures of teaching at Sandhurst that these categories overlap), in particular from the following serving or retired soldiers: Brigadier Peter Young, D.S.O., M.C., Brigadier D. W. V. P. O’Fla