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For other persons named John Keegan, see John Keegan (disambiguation). John Keegan may refer to John Keegan (born 1934 British military historian lecturer and journalist John Keegan (judge (born 1952

Sir John Desmond Patrick Keegan OBE (born 15 May 1934) is a British military historian, lecturer and journalist. The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British Order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by King George V. Events 1252 - Pope Innocent IV issues the Papal bull Ad exstirpanda, which authorizes but also limits the Year 1934 ( MCMXXXIV) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display full 1934 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located Military history is a Humanities discipline within the scope of general historical recording of armed conflict in the history of humanity He has published many works on the nature of combat between the 14th and 21st centuries concerning land, air, maritime and intelligence warfare as well as the psychology of battle.

Keegan was born in Clapham, the son of an Irish Catholic family[1]. Clapham is an area of South London, England, in the London Borough of Lambeth. Irish Catholics is a term used to describe people of Roman Catholic background who are Irish or of Irish descent. His father served in the First World War. World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All

At the age of 13 Keegan contracted orthopedic tuberculosis, which has subsequently affected his gait. Tuberculosis (abbreviated as TB for tubercle bacillus or T u' b' erculosis Bacillus --> is a common This illness interrupted his education during his teenage years; however, his education included two years at Wimbledon College leading to entry to Balliol College, Oxford in 1953. Wimbledon College is a state-maintained voluntary-aided Roman Catholic ( Jesuit) Secondary school for boys aged 11 to 19 Balliol College (ˈbeɪlɪəl founded in 1263 is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Year 1953 ( MCMLIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Following graduation he worked at the American Embassy in London for three years. The Embassy of the United States of America to the Court of St James's is situated at the American Embassy London Chancery Building in Grosvenor Square,

In 1960 he was appointed to a lectureship in Military History at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, the training establishment for officers of the British Army. Year 1960 ( MCMLX) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst ( RMAS) commonly known simply as Sandhurst, is the British Army officer initial training centre The British Army is the land armed forces branch of the British Armed Forces. Holding the post for 36 years, he became senior lecturer in military history during his tenure. During this period he also held a visiting professorship at Princeton University and was Delmas Distinguished Professor of History at Vassar College, a visiting professorship. Princeton University is a private Coeducational research university located in Princeton, New Jersey. Vassar College is a private Coeducational, liberal arts college situated in the town of Poughkeepsie, New York, USA. [2]

Leaving the academy in 1997 Keegan joined the Daily Telegraph as a Defence Correspondent and remains with the publication as Defence Editor, also writing for the American conservative website, National Review Online. Year 1997 ( MCMXCVII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1997 Gregorian calendar For "The Daily Telegraph" in Australia see The Daily Telegraph (Australia. National Review ( NR) is a biweekly Magazine and Web site, founded by the late author William F

In 1998 he wrote and presented the BBC's Reith Lectures, entitled War in our World. Year 1998 ( MCMXCVIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1998 Gregorian calendar) A Reith Lecture is a Lecture in a series of annual Radio lectures given by leading figures of the day commissioned by the BBC and broadcast on BBC

Keegan was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the Gulf War honours list and later, in the Millennium Dome honours list, he was knighted. The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British Order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by King George V. The rank of Knight Bachelor is a part of the British honours system.

The long-term effects of his tuberculosis rendered him unfit for military service and the timing of his birth made him too young for World War II, as mentioned in his works as an ironic observation on his profession and interest. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including [3]

Keegan is possibly the best-known British military historian of the 20th century. Although (unlike military historians) he has never served as a soldier, this is hard to discern from his books, which are as concerned with the experience of the common soldier as with the tactics and strategy of the generals. This is particularly evident in The (Illustrated) Face of Battle, which discusses in detail the effect of infantry and cavalry on each other, the effects of wounds and illness, and the morale of the troops, in three successive battles—Agincourt, Waterloo, and the Somme—which occurred in different centuries but in the same region. The Battle of Agincourt was an English victory against a larger French army in the Hundred Years' War. In the Battle of Waterloo (Sunday 18 June 1815 near Waterloo Belgium The Battle of the Somme, also known as the Somme Offensive, fought from July to November 1916 was among the largest battles of the First World War Like all military-history texts, this book has diagrams with boxes and arrows showing movements of infantry, cavalry, and artillery units; but he discusses the soldiers in depth. He has spent much of his life teaching officers—and listening to them.

Contents

Published work

Keegan's books include a traditional battle-by-battle coverage of conflict, experience of the individual, historical causes of military events, technological change in warfare, military strategy and challenges of leadership. He writes mainly for the educated non-specialist reader. Those who wish to sample his straightforward histories of war should read his histories of the Second World War and of, more recently, the First World War.

His work examines warfare throughout history, including human prehistory and the classical era; however the majority of his work concentrates on the 14th Century onwards to modern conflict of the 20th and 21st Centuries.

In A History of Warfare, Keegan outlines the development and limitations of warfare from prehistory to the modern era. It looks at various topics, including the use of horses, logistics, and "fire". One key concept put forward is that war is inherently cultural. In the introduction, he rigorously denounces the idiom "war is a continuation of policy by other means", rejecting on its face "Clausewitzian" ideas. Carl Philipp Gottlieb von Clausewitz (ˈklaʊzəvɪts ( July 1, 1780 – November 16, 1831) was a Prussian soldier military historian

He has also contributed to work on historiography in modern conflict.

Frank C. Mahncke wrote that Keegan is seen as being "among the most prominent and widely read military historians of the late twentieth century". [4] In a book-cover blurb extracted from a more complex article, Michael Howard wrote: at once the most readable and the most original of living historians. Michael Howard QC (born 7 July 1941 is a British Politician, a Conservative MP since the 1983 General Election for the constituency of [5]

It should be noted that his book, Fields of Battle: The Wars for North America, which gives rather concise accounts of all the wars fought on the soil of North America, nevertheless contains something highly engaging: opening and closing essays that provide almost Tocquevillean insights into his own personal relationship to America.

Iraq War

An article in the Christian Science Monitor calls Keegan a "staunch supporter" of the Iraq War. The Christian Science Monitor (CSM is an international Newspaper published daily Monday through Friday The article quotes Keegan: "Uncomfortable as the 'spectacle of raw military force' is, he concludes, that the Iraq war represents 'a better guide to what needs to be done to secure the safety of our world than any amount of law-making or treaty-writing can offer. ' "[6] He frequently justifies the war by making comparisons between it and other, more popular wars, such as both world wars and the Napoleonic Wars. The Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815 involved Napoleon's French Empire and a shifting set of European allies and opposing coalitions

Criticism

Keegan has also been criticised by peers, including Sir Michael Howard,[7] Peter Paret and Christopher Bassford [8] for his critical position on Carl von Clausewitz, a Prussian officer and writer on military philosophy. Sir Michael Eliot Howard, OM, CH, CBE, MC (born 29 November 1922) is a retired British military historian Peter Paret ( April 13, 1924 - is American military, cultural & art Historian with a particular interest in Christopher Bassford (born 1953 is an American military historian. Carl Philipp Gottlieb von Clausewitz (ˈklaʊzəvɪts ( July 1, 1780 – November 16, 1831) was a Prussian soldier military historian Keegan is described as profoundly mistaken and Bassford states that Nothing anywhere in Keegan's work—despite his many diatribes about Clausewitz and 'the Clausewitzians'—reflects any reading whatsoever of Clausewitz's own writings. He also caused some controversy by suggesting that General Sir Douglas Haig was an 'efficient and highly skilled soldier who did much to lead Britain to victory in the First World War'. Field Marshal Douglas Haig 1st Earl Haig, KT, GCB, OM, GCVO, Many serious modern historians—such as Gary Sheffield, John Terraine, Gordon Corrigan and Richard Holmes—would broadly agree.

Bibliography

References

  1. ^ John Keegan Biography. Viking Press is an American Publishing company currently owned by Penguin Books. Year 1999 ( MCMXCIX) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1999 Gregorian calendar) Alfred A Knopf Inc is a New York publishing house founded by Alfred A Year 1999 ( MCMXCIX) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1999 Gregorian calendar) See also 2002 (disambiguation Year 2002 ( MMII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. Year 2003 ( MMIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. "MMIV" redirects here For the Modest Mouse album see " Baron von Bullshit Rides Again " HarperCollins is a Publishing company owned by News Corporation. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Retrieved on 2008-06-05. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 70 - Titus and his Roman Legions breach the middle wall of Jerusalem in the Siege of Jerusalem
  2. ^ Back cover of The First World War. Keegan, John, ISBN 0-375-40052-4
  3. ^ Interview (transcripted May 1994)
  4. ^ Naval War College - Frank C. Mahncke, Naval War College
  5. ^ The New York Times Book Review - Sir Michael Howard
  6. ^ America's bewildering battle in Iraq follows new rules
  7. ^ Michael Howard, "To the Ruthless Belong the Spoils," The New York Times Book Review, 14 November 1993. The Naval War College (NWC is an education and research institution of the United States Navy that specializes in developing ideas for Naval warfare and passing them Sir Michael Eliot Howard, OM, CH, CBE, MC (born 29 November 1922) is a retired British military historian
  8. ^ War in History, November 1994, pp. 319-336, Christopher Bassford available at "Clausewitz.com
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