The Face of Battle
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The Face of Battle is a 1976 non-fiction book on military history by the English military historian John Keegan. It deals 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 three of these battles involved British soldiers.
The work is notable because it doesn't focus upon the battle from only the generals' perspective; nor does it simply accumulate quotes from ordinary soldiers. Instead, it focuses on the mechanics of battles and targets popular myths. For instance, it disputes the effectiveness of cavalry charges in even the middle ages - in 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.
When focusing on the mechanics of battle, Keegan discusses troop spacing, the effectiveness of weapons and formations, and other measures of tactical importance.
