The Book of War: 25 Centuries of Great War Writings by John Keegan
1999 / 667 pgs. (200,000 words) History, Military & Warfare

As the title implies, this is a collection of writings that describe warfare. The premises were to show how warfare changed over the generations. It is a collection of writings, not just from the leaders or soldiers that fought in many conflicts. It is also from historians, witnesses, and even an obituary. It starts from excerpts of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides and ends with an account from the Gulf War. It includes poems and narrations.

Various accounts throughout history, as Mr. Keegan noted in the beginning, were how the enemy was treated when captured. In early times, entire nations were destroyed, and their citizens were made into slaves or pressed into service. Militaries of early civilizations had soldiers that served for their entire life. As time progressed, warfare changed on account of the improvement of technology over time to make warfare even more deadly and societal challenges.

What also made many of these accounts fascinating was the personalization of many narrations that historians would miss in their writings. One gets a more intimate feeling when reading accounts that the humanity is not edited out. 

A couple of narrations that I found very fascinating were “A Farewell to Arms” by George Peele which was a Commemoration of the Retirement of Queen Elizabeths champion as he laid down his arms. A narration by Inga Clendinnen about the Aztecs use of a gladiatorial stone that would be the “final” battle of an enemy warrior before they collapsed on the stone from blood loss. Davy Crockett’s account of fighting with the Choctaw and Chickasaw during the war of 1812. James Bodell “A Soldiers view of Empire” about wives and girlfriends accompanying soldiers to the ship before departure and then left to fend for themselves while the men were away. Something that people in today’s military do not think about with families of yester years. Rudyard Kipling poem “Tommy” about the treatment of soldiers after the war. Stephen Graham’s “How News of War,” an account of how men were notified for conscription during the first world war.

I would recommend this book to anyone that enjoys reading about warfare and military.    

Enjoy a good cup of coffee and a delightful book!

Lopaka