Sir John Keegan’s wisdom was shared with Telegraph readers in rigorously argued commentary pieces and unsigned leader articles, explaining conflicts around the world Photo: Jeff Gilbert
Sir John Keegan, who has died aged 78, achieved an international reputation as a military historian, then discovered a talent for writing rapid analyses of international crises as the defence editor of The Daily Telegraph.
Sir John Keegan was probably the first military historian I read way back in the 70's. His book, The Face of Battle still sits on my shelf as does Six Armies in Normandy. He was a pacifist because he understood the horrors of war.
I am afraid I shall have to dissent from your comment that Keegan was a pacifist: on the contrary he enthusiasticly suppted the Iraq War
Sorry: ‘enthusiastically supported’
Thanks for your comments. I based my statement off the original blog post. Here is the paragraph:
It was always with surprise that new acquaintances discovered that Keegan was no battle-hardened veteran. He was a gentle civilian who was deeply imbued with his Roman Catholic faith and had been crippled with tuberculosis since childhood. While an unabashed supporter of the British alliance with the United States, he described himself as “95 per cent pacifist” and looked forward – though with increasing doubts in recent years — to a world which had abandoned war.