John Keegan historian passes away

Sir John Keegan, well-known tactical military historian, aged 78 has just passed away.

To me, his best books were the Face of Battle and Six Armies in Normandy. The latter tried to imagine what it was like to be in a battle and was a contrast to most books examining the commander's perspective. He also wrote for the Telegraphy Newspaper, with articles trying to explain military realities to the lay reader.

He was one of the fellow lecturers of Paddy Griffith and David Chandler at the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurt, but unlike them, he did not place much value on the use of wargames to help understanding of military history. I have some classic unpublished correspondence between John Keegan and Paddy Griffith, demonstrating both had strong feelings. One day I might get it to print.

For further information see   Obituary.