Sir John Keegan on Writing Military History

1. Have an idea that you keep coming back to. Once you’ve decided you must write a book on that subject, proceed to step 2.
2. Try to think of key events that epitomize the period or subject in question—for example, in the face of battle, he took three battles that epitomized a particular moment in the development of warfare.
3. Analyze events in terms of a number of material factors: 1.) Geography, location, what the terrain is like, how it would’ve influenced combatants, etc. 2.) Order of Battle: Making exact list of who is involved—like doing accounts—buisinessmen say unless the accounts are straight, you can’t be certain your business is conducted on solid lines. Unless you’ve got an exact order of battle—how many French units, British units, their strength, position, who commands whom, you can’t do the account of the battle, or the broader story. The bill won’t come out right.
4. After you’ve done this, begin to think about the more imaginative, less material aspects.