Editions

The American Civil War

The American Civil War

The American Civil War was one of the longest and bloodiest of modern wars. It is also one of the most mysterious. It has captured the imagination of writers, artists and film-makers for decades but the reality of it confuses and divides historians even today.

In this magisterial history of the first modern war, the distinguished military historian John Keegan unpicks the geography, leadership and strategic logic of the war and takes us to the heart of the conflict. His captivating work promises to be the definitive history of the American Civil War.

Reviews

  • Vivid and compelling

    Sunday Times

  • It is hard to see how Keegan's masterful and thought-provoking book could be beaten

    Daily Telegraph

  • In its range and sweep, this book is difficult to better and promises to become the definitive account of the conflict

    Daily Mail

  • One of our finest military historians, Keegan brings a shrewd and discerning eye to [the] conflict... compelling

    Literary Review

  • The best military historian of our day

    New York Times

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About the Author

John Keegan

John Keegan is the Defence Editor of the Daily Telegraph and Britain's foremost military historian. The Reith Lecturer in 1998, he is the author of many bestselling books including The Face of Battle, Six Armies in Normandy, Battle at Sea, The Second World War, A History of Warfare (awarded the Duff Cooper Prize), Warpaths, The Battle for History, The First World War, and most recently, Intelligence in War. For many years John Keegan was the Senior Lecturer in Military History at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, and he has been a Fellow of Princeton University and Delmas Distinguished Professor of History at Vassar. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. He received the OBE in the Gulf War honours list, and was knighted in the Millennium honours list in 1999. John Keegan died in August 2012.

John Keegan

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