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Old 04-20-2004, 15:45   #2
chipw
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Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Georgia
Posts: 16
I have not read “Intelligence in War” but I immensely enjoyed “the Face of Battle”. You’re correct that Keegan makes interesting, almost novel like reading out of what many would consider dry reading.
The “face of Battle” analyzes three battles: Agincourt, Waterloo, and the Somme if I remember right. Not from the perspective of generals or historical strategists but from the men on the ground. He does this while also keeping the reader abreast of the larger picture of the battle.
His premise is that battle is a brutal affair often waged with the participants not knowing the “big picture”. It is only after the battle when the accounts are written that things take on a tidy appearance. He also challenges some long standing ideas about how battles were fought. The French knight's charge at Agincourt comes to mind. He gives some good arguments that a horse would not charge headlong into a wall of pikes.

Very good book.
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