Promotional Information

A fascinating and highly readable study of this most topical of subjects by the most distinguished contemporary writer of military history.

About the Author

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.

Reviews

Authoritative and stimulating
*Daily Telegraph*

This stimulating and informed book...has no contemporary equal. Keegan has done it again
*Daily Telegraph*

Intelligence in War combines the lucid prose, perceptive judgements and narrative power that Keegan's readers have come to expect
*The Times*

This excellent and highly readable book is vintage Keegan
*Literary Review*

A fascinating book on a fascinating subject, written by a master of the craft
*Spectator*

Noted military historian Keegan (The Face of Battle; The Mask of Command) examines several military campaigns to show how intelligence affected the outcome. Admiral Nelson had to chase Napoleon to Egypt with few intelligence resources yet achieved a great naval victory. Gen. Stonewall Jackson's local knowledge enabled him to beat superior Union forces consistently in the Shenandoah valley. At Midway the U.S. Navy had the intelligence advantage, but the outcome still depended on chance. Use of human resources proved most important in the Allied campaign against Hitler's vengeance weapons. The British defeat at Crete and the Falklands War are also analyzed. As Keegan persuasively shows, the keystone to victory was not formal military intelligence but the human factor. Intelligence organizations are now dominated by huge technical systems with lots of expensive equipment, but timeliness, completeness, effective evaluation of the material, and proper use of the knowledge gained are always vital. Only the application of sufficient force, not the quantity of intelligence data, can lead to success. Suitable for all military history collections. (Maps and illustrations not seen.)-Daniel K. Blewett, Coll. of DuPage Lib., Glen Ellyn, IL Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Authoritative and stimulating * Daily Telegraph *
This stimulating and informed book...has no contemporary equal. Keegan has done it again * Daily Telegraph *
Intelligence in War combines the lucid prose, perceptive judgements and narrative power that Keegan's readers have come to expect -- Christopher Andrew * The Times *
This excellent and highly readable book is vintage Keegan -- Alistair Horne * Literary Review *
A fascinating book on a fascinating subject, written by a master of the craft -- Raymond Carr * Spectator *