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| Fri Aug 3 12:06:39 2012 John Keegan |
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| Fri Aug 3 12:06:39 2012 John Keegan One of my favorite authors. |
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| John Keegan died yesterday (2 August). He was one of my favorite authors, and probably
my favorite author of military history.
I first read John Keegan's classic The Face of Battle, which many consider his best work. Later, I read A History of Warfare, which is as far as I know the only modern-day response to Clauswitz's classic On War. Clauswitz wrote his book after the Napoleanic wars, and it wasn't until Keegan that the famous dictum "War is the extension of diplomacy by other means" was challenged. Keegan's perspective was that war and warfare is more cultural than political. I won't try to explain it here (read Keegan!) but I found his overall take very persuasive. I've read several other Keegan books, such as The Second World War and The Mask of Command. Personally, my favorite of his books was The First World War, which I've heard described as the best single-volume on The First World War there is. Certainly it is the top selling Keegan book on Amazon.com. One of my prize possessions is a signed hardcover version. I'm sorry to hear that Keegan has passed away, but I think that he has already influenced multiple generations of historians and soldiers, and will influence generations more. Comments |
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