The Face of Battle
A revolutionary study comparing combat experience at Agincourt, Waterloo, and the Somme.
The Verdict
The book that changed how military history is written. John Keegan asked a simple question previous historians had skirted — what is a battle actually like for the man in it? — and answered it by examining Agincourt, Waterloo, and the Somme from the soldier's eye. The result dismantled the bloodless general's-map tradition and put human experience at the center of the discipline. Essential not just for the Somme chapter but for how it teaches you to read every other battle book.
Who Should Read It
Read it if you want
- A foundational work on the experience of combat
- Readers interested in military history as a discipline
- The Somme from the soldier's perspective
- Anyone who wants to read battle history more critically
Look elsewhere if you want
- A WWII-focused narrative (only the Somme is WWI-era)
- A single gripping story
- Readers wanting events over analysis
Why We Rated It 4.7
Historical Context
Keegan's 1976 study examines three battles — Agincourt (1415), Waterloo (1815), and the Somme (1916) — to reconstruct the physical and psychological reality of combat. Though its battles predate WWII, its method underlies virtually all modern war writing, including the WWII histories on this site.
Events Covered
Editions & Reading Notes
Read It Alongside
Where to Buy
ISBN: 978-0140048971
Other Books About the Same Events
Frequently Asked Questions
- Is The Face of Battle about World War II?
- Not directly — it examines Agincourt, Waterloo, and the Somme. But its approach to the soldier's experience of combat underpins modern WWII history.
- Why is it considered important?
- It shifted military history away from the general's map toward the experience of ordinary soldiers, influencing nearly every battle historian since.