- Made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the Gulf War honors list.
- Military historian, college professor and author of numerous books, including "The Face of Battle," "The Mask of Command," "The Second World War," "Fields of Battle: The Wars for North America," "The First World War" and "The Iraq War.".
- Ironically (for a military historian) he was deemed unfit for military service due to having contracted orthopedic tuberculosis (affecting his legs) at age 13. He frequently cites his lack of military experience in his books.
- Professor of Military History for 26 years at Sandhurst (Britain's West Point).
- Called "The best military historian of our generation," by Tom Clancy.
- Knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in the Millennium honors list.
- He was awarded Knight Bachelor of the Order of the British Empire in the 2000 Queen's Millennium New Year's Honours List for his services to Military history.
- Keegan never served in the military.
- At age 13, he contracted orthopedic tuberculosis and spent the next nine years being treated for it, five of them in a hospital, where he used the time to learn Latin and Greek from a chaplain. Besides the Latin and Greek lessons he received in the hospital, he also found time to learn French and, after his recovery, enrolled at Oxford, where he majored in history. After graduating, he went to the United States on a grant to study the Civil War.
- He had a keen interest in the United States, receiving a visiting fellowship at Princeton, writing meditations on North American wars and briefing President Bill Clinton in preparation for the 50th anniversary of the Normandy invasion in 1994.
- Returning to London, he wrote political reports for the United States Embassy and was later appointed as a lecturer at the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst, England, a post he held for 25 years.
- Father of actress Rose Keegan.
- In a 1994 interview with Brian Lamb on C-Span, Mr. Keegan acknowledged that the Duke of Wellington and Dwight D. Eisenhower were among his favorite military figures.
- He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1986.
- He was awarded an Honorary Degree (Doctor of Letters) from the University of Bath in 2002.
- He lives near Warminster, Wiltshire, England. (November 2008)
- His "The American Civil War: A Military History" was published. (October 2009)
- Defense Editor for the (UK) Daily Telegraph. (2008)
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content