I bought this in Hay and assumed it had been written fairly recently - 21st Century anyway - until I started to read it and it seemed very dated in parts. Turned out to have been 1995, and although I found the book interesting, entertaining and educational about the role warfare has played in American history and the geography of the battlefields Keegan visits, some of his old-school attitudes took the breath away. He was openly sympathised with slaveowners and lamented the lost Gone With The Wind society, and when it came to the American West I had to double-take as he placed the blame squarely on Native Americans for being devious, untrustworthy and greedy. You assume these attitudes have long since disappeared, but then you see the Trump supporters and realise there are still people who can bring themselves to believe such crazy things. I've run out of excuses now not to write up my cycling trip. . .
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