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Warpaths
Military history and geography explain each other in North America as nowhere else in the world. Award-winning historian John Keegan explores their relationship and examines the battles fought over three centuries between Frenchman and Indian, Royalist and colonist, Union and Confederacy.
370 pages, Hardcover
First published December 31, 1995
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About the author
John Keegan
131 books788 followersSir John Desmond Patrick Keegan, OBE, FRSL was a British military historian, lecturer and journalist. He published many works on the nature of combat between the 14th and 21st centuries concerning land, air, maritime and intelligence warfare as well as the psychology of battle.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
April 3, 2024
If challenged on why 3 stars for John Keegan’s Warpaths (later printed under the title Fields of Battle: The Wars for North America) I may have to fold and admit it is out if respect for several of his other books. It is possible to appreciate some aspects of this book, but I hesitate to recommend it.
The short version is that Warpaths is military historian’s version of a travel book across America, and Canada, and America’s history as the battles ground in four different wars. Geography and particularly forts are the uniting theme. Keegan is at his best with land warfare and so there is little to no mention of either offshore battles, a quick summary of the Monitor and Merrimac engagement and even less of the Navy battles of the Great Lakes.
Filling out the book is a lot of his impressions and opinions about his travels to and around various battle sites. He tells us of his travels along the St. Lawrence and out into the in American West, ending with a detailed replay of the Battle of the Little Bighorn. The notion of analyzing the history of North America based on battles fought here, is interesting. How it is that France failed to properly initiate and sustain its colonial interest and how that contrasts with Great Briton colonial system, is an addition to the field. At the other end, much of the same kind of analysis about the American competition for space in the west, has both substance and unsound bias.
Much of the travel log is muddled. These are heavy with his personal responses and friends and by definition filled with opinion. That he adds to the romance of the old south may be his authentic response, but tends to be too blind to what was the Lost Cause. States Rights aside, the Civil War was about humans holding others as slaves. Southern states had no problem with exceeding the constitutionality of state’s rights as long as the federal government was defying state’s rights in support of slavery. Once that privilege started to run against them, they launched a war against my country. All of this is not part of Keegan’s analysis.
Almost everything he has to say about America’s War against the original settlers. excuses white skinned excess and inflates those attributable to red skins. Evidently the original settlers owed the invading Europeans space and land no matter how many promises were broken, cheats were executed not to mention lives and livelihoods taken.
Listening to Keegan, the near extermination of the Buffalo was entirely for the purpose of harvesting the skins, and only accidentally about destroying the economy of the people of the plains.
There is a there, there. Keegan is a historian. But he is too bound to his many American friends and to that degree less removed from them in those pages about history.
The short version is that Warpaths is military historian’s version of a travel book across America, and Canada, and America’s history as the battles ground in four different wars. Geography and particularly forts are the uniting theme. Keegan is at his best with land warfare and so there is little to no mention of either offshore battles, a quick summary of the Monitor and Merrimac engagement and even less of the Navy battles of the Great Lakes.
Filling out the book is a lot of his impressions and opinions about his travels to and around various battle sites. He tells us of his travels along the St. Lawrence and out into the in American West, ending with a detailed replay of the Battle of the Little Bighorn. The notion of analyzing the history of North America based on battles fought here, is interesting. How it is that France failed to properly initiate and sustain its colonial interest and how that contrasts with Great Briton colonial system, is an addition to the field. At the other end, much of the same kind of analysis about the American competition for space in the west, has both substance and unsound bias.
Much of the travel log is muddled. These are heavy with his personal responses and friends and by definition filled with opinion. That he adds to the romance of the old south may be his authentic response, but tends to be too blind to what was the Lost Cause. States Rights aside, the Civil War was about humans holding others as slaves. Southern states had no problem with exceeding the constitutionality of state’s rights as long as the federal government was defying state’s rights in support of slavery. Once that privilege started to run against them, they launched a war against my country. All of this is not part of Keegan’s analysis.
Almost everything he has to say about America’s War against the original settlers. excuses white skinned excess and inflates those attributable to red skins. Evidently the original settlers owed the invading Europeans space and land no matter how many promises were broken, cheats were executed not to mention lives and livelihoods taken.
Listening to Keegan, the near extermination of the Buffalo was entirely for the purpose of harvesting the skins, and only accidentally about destroying the economy of the people of the plains.
There is a there, there. Keegan is a historian. But he is too bound to his many American friends and to that degree less removed from them in those pages about history.
November 26, 2019
I’ve found this the most difficult of Keegan’s books that I’ve read but that is due more to my ignorance of the topics he tackles, rather than his writing. I wished many times that I had a huge map of North America to hand, as I struggled to follow his detailed descriptions of a geography with which I’m unfamiliar. However, any American - or Canadian - interested in the wars that founded, united or opened their nations would learn a great deal from this history of the forts of the Americas. It differs from the other Keegan books that I’ve read, in that it opens as a travelogue, describing his early travels in the US in the 1950s, and the beginning of his life long love affair with the United States. It seemed to be a bit self-indulgent, as I’d expected that it would get straight into the military history. But then the reason for the self-indulgence became clear, as his early travels became the basis for a description of the geography of the states and in particular, the strategic centrality of the great river systems. As with any of Keegan’s books, this turned out to be a captivating read and in the end, I appreciated the personal approach that he took.
April 22, 2020
This was a hodge podge of recounting parts of wars centered around the theme of forts: French/English wars in North America, American War of Independece, Civil War, Indian Wars and Flying Fortresses told in a folksy but not charming manner.
The few pages of telling of the Battle of Little Big Horn, including both Calvary and Indian perspectives was more insightful than all my visits to the site and movie on the subject. The highlight was the dozen pages or so on the ingenuity and tenacity of the Wright Brothers and the claims of first flight other than theirs and stealing of patent ideas on flying that arose. Instead of their accomplishent being respected worms came out of the woodwork to take credit and capitalize on their feat. Also interesting the explanation of why the Kittyhawk artefact hangs in London and not the Smithsonian.
The few pages of telling of the Battle of Little Big Horn, including both Calvary and Indian perspectives was more insightful than all my visits to the site and movie on the subject. The highlight was the dozen pages or so on the ingenuity and tenacity of the Wright Brothers and the claims of first flight other than theirs and stealing of patent ideas on flying that arose. Instead of their accomplishent being respected worms came out of the woodwork to take credit and capitalize on their feat. Also interesting the explanation of why the Kittyhawk artefact hangs in London and not the Smithsonian.
July 24, 2007
My like for this book is tempered by the realization that Keegan the man is a bit of a dick. His not-so-subtle and very unnecessary dig at an anonymous midwestern Womens Studies professor had me so irked I nearly wrote him an abusive letter. If you can get past Keegan, though, the book is worth a read.
May 29, 2025
Of the many books by John Keegan that I have read, this is by far the least enjoyable. Two stars is probably a harsh assessment, but there are a few points that annoy me greatly about the book, and overshadow the scholarship and insight that are also present in significant quantities.
First, the positive. As usual, Keegan looks for parallels and contrasts in defining historical people, places, or battles. In this book he analyses the geography of North America and describes 4 wars on its soil in terms of the limitations and opportunities offered by key strategic points. The wars include those between English and French in Quebec, the American Revolution, the Civil War's Penninsular campaign, and the wars of extermination of the Native Peoples in the Plains territories (including Custer's Last Stand). He convincingly argues that the twin keys to North America are the St. Lawrence/Lake Champlain/Hudson River corridor and the extended Mississippi watershed. Of course, such a dry description does not do justice to Keegan's fine writing style that brings alive the geography, the society, and the battles themselves.
And yet.... All the fine analysis is for naught. Keegan does normally inject a certain amount of his personal opinion and direct observation of battlefields and locations that he's personally visited. However, in this book, it is taken to an extreme. The first 65 (!) pages are a meandering, self-indulgent account of vacations he's taken in the U.S. and Canada, ostensibly to describe the geography, but redundantly because he rehashes it all in the chapters dealing with the specific wars. Worse still, it's dull. The next few chapters perk up considerably, especially that describing the Civil War. However, it's all ruined again by his unbelievable defense of the genocide commited by the U.S. (and Britain/Canada, for that matter, but he focuses on the U.S.) on their native populations. He seems to justify his stance by calling the Natives "selfish" for wanting to maintain their way of life and low population density. My jaw dropped in disbelief when I read it! That's like justifying Hitler's invasion of Poland (and his attempted genocide of its people) because Germany needed "liebensraum."
So, unfortunately, I cannot endorse this book, in spite of its many good points. Pick up Keegan's Face of Battle or Mask of Command for examples of his penetrating insight. Steer clear of this one (not difficult since it's currently out of print)
First, the positive. As usual, Keegan looks for parallels and contrasts in defining historical people, places, or battles. In this book he analyses the geography of North America and describes 4 wars on its soil in terms of the limitations and opportunities offered by key strategic points. The wars include those between English and French in Quebec, the American Revolution, the Civil War's Penninsular campaign, and the wars of extermination of the Native Peoples in the Plains territories (including Custer's Last Stand). He convincingly argues that the twin keys to North America are the St. Lawrence/Lake Champlain/Hudson River corridor and the extended Mississippi watershed. Of course, such a dry description does not do justice to Keegan's fine writing style that brings alive the geography, the society, and the battles themselves.
And yet.... All the fine analysis is for naught. Keegan does normally inject a certain amount of his personal opinion and direct observation of battlefields and locations that he's personally visited. However, in this book, it is taken to an extreme. The first 65 (!) pages are a meandering, self-indulgent account of vacations he's taken in the U.S. and Canada, ostensibly to describe the geography, but redundantly because he rehashes it all in the chapters dealing with the specific wars. Worse still, it's dull. The next few chapters perk up considerably, especially that describing the Civil War. However, it's all ruined again by his unbelievable defense of the genocide commited by the U.S. (and Britain/Canada, for that matter, but he focuses on the U.S.) on their native populations. He seems to justify his stance by calling the Natives "selfish" for wanting to maintain their way of life and low population density. My jaw dropped in disbelief when I read it! That's like justifying Hitler's invasion of Poland (and his attempted genocide of its people) because Germany needed "liebensraum."
So, unfortunately, I cannot endorse this book, in spite of its many good points. Pick up Keegan's Face of Battle or Mask of Command for examples of his penetrating insight. Steer clear of this one (not difficult since it's currently out of print)
January 4, 2015
I read three pages and could not bring myself to suffer through any more.
Definitely not my preferred style of writing.
Definitely not my preferred style of writing.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews