The Face of Battle

Blurb

The Face of Battle is a 1976 non-fiction book on military history by the English military historian John Keegan. It deals first with the structure of historical writing about battles, the strengths and weaknesses of the "battle piece," and then with the structure of warfare in three time periods—medieval Europe, the Napoleonic Era, and World War I—by analyzing three battles: Agincourt, Waterloo, and the Somme, all of which involved English soldiers and occurred in approximately the same geographical area.
When published, the work was groundbreaking. It does not examine the battles only from the point of view of the generals nor does it simply accumulate quotes from ordinary soldiers. Instead, it focuses on the practical mechanics of battle and critically examines popular myths about warfare. For instance, Keegan disputes the effectiveness of cavalry charges in the Middle Ages. At Agincourt, the lightly-armored archers dug stakes into the ground to impede horses, while heavy infantry who stood their ground had little to fear from cavalry.