The Face of Battle The Face of Battle The Face of Battle is a 1976 non-fiction book on military history by the English military historian John Keegan. It deals first with the structure of historical writing about battles, the strengths and weaknesses of the "battle piece," and then with the structure of warfare in three time periods—medieval Europe, the Napoleonic Era, and World War I—by analyzing three battles: Agincourt, Waterloo, and the Somme, all of which involved English soldiers and occurred in approximately the same geographical area. When published, the work was groundbreaking. It does not examine the battles only from the point of
HMS Agincourt (1913) visibility the division lost sight of the Grand Fleet during the night, passing the badly damaged battlecruiser without opening fire. Dawn found them with only the detritus from the previous day's battle in sight and the division arrived back at Scapa Flow on 2 June. "Agincourt" fired 144 twelve-inch shells and 111 six-inch shells during the battle, although she is not known to have hit anything. Although the Grand Fleet made several sorties over the next few years it is not known if "Agincourt" participated in them. On 23 April 1918, "Agincourt" and "Hercules" were stationed at Scapa Flow to