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A review by aldean
A History of Warfare by John Keegan
5.0
This book sat on my shelf, beautiful but unread, until I heard a fascinating interview on NPR one night with a historian who turned out to be John Keegan, soon to be my favorite military historian. I started reading this the next day.
This in an ambitious work, attempting as it does to cover al of military history from pre-history all the way through the then current-day late Twentieth Century. That Keegan manages to write such a book that covered that vast sweep of years in a manner both informative, reflective, and highly readable was a feat that impressed me then, and continues to impress me today. He avoids trying to be too exhaustive, expertly selecting representative incidents and episodes to trace the development of humanity's expertise in group violence throughout the ages. An thoroughly enjoyable read.
This in an ambitious work, attempting as it does to cover al of military history from pre-history all the way through the then current-day late Twentieth Century. That Keegan manages to write such a book that covered that vast sweep of years in a manner both informative, reflective, and highly readable was a feat that impressed me then, and continues to impress me today. He avoids trying to be too exhaustive, expertly selecting representative incidents and episodes to trace the development of humanity's expertise in group violence throughout the ages. An thoroughly enjoyable read.