Soldiers: A history of men in battle

by John Keegan and Richard Holmes

Book Overview

Celebrated military historian, John Keegan, and co-author, Richard Holmes, chart the changes in the conduct of warfare through history with an instructive combination of analysis and illustration. In... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1568521103
• ISBN13: 9781568521107
• Release Date: January 1997
• Publisher: Konecky & Konecky
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 2.95 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Good but biased

I learned a lot from this book, it gives a good explanation of each "warrior who fights for pay" type throughout history. As a historical piece, though, it loses a lot of its value due to its British bias. The book would sound a lot more credible if the author didn't use examples of the British army for everything, sometimes fortifying it with an American example as well (which, of course, is British in origin!) Aside from this major flaw, the organization of the book did get a little obnoxious down the road, but other than that I can say I learned something from it. The illustrations may be the best reason to buy this book, too; they're great details to the history of war.

Must-Have illustrated anthology!

This is a really great book. It goes through the stages of armed conflict throughout history. I starts with infantry. Then cavalry, then war machines, then engineers, and so on and so forth. I really is a must buy, with all the illustrations it has, it's even better. This is actually a better book about the origins and the evolution of warfare than his other book "A history of warfare". Read it, it's well-written, but most of all well-read...

unusual organization: soldiers by unit type...

...or at least, this is the first book I've found that talks specifically in chapters about infantry, artillery, etc. (I'm sure others exist, but my reading has been eclectic.)I'm too much in awe of Keegan, and too poorly read in anything military *after* the 1500's, to attempt any real judgement on the scholarship here. (My credentials in military history are nonexistent; I'm just a reader.)I can say, however, that whatever its faults, I've found this book to be a valuable resource. The organization helps greatly when you want to know about, oh, pikemen. It did seem a bit Eurocentric to me, and I would have liked to see more inclusion of non-European unit types and *their* development, at least in the pre-modern era. Nevertheless, I'm happy I own this book...and it's staying in my collection.

Solid, well illustrated reference on the history of soldiers

Concise and well researched one volume history of men in battle. Liberally enriched with excellent illustrations. Broken down into chapters detailing the evolution of infantry, artillery, etc. Also features chapters on the more ethereal nature of war, from how casualties have been treated {or disposed of} throughout the centuries to a mesmerizing collection of vignettes on personal experiences of war. Definitely a worthwhile addition to anyone's military history library.