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The Face of Battle

The face of battle known to the knight was one seen at close hand, often at arm's length from the enemy. The onset of mass-produced weapons confronts the soldier of the industrial world to apprehend danger through his nerve-endings, guessing at the risks he runs and sustaining his courage not by seeking to fill his enemy with fear greater than his own - since the enemy is unseen - but by denying his own fear to himself through an act of will. In the first episode Frederick Forsyth takes the battlefield of Waterloo as a vantage point to illustrate how, over the centuries, the experience of battle has changed for soldiers in combat.

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  • Originally Aired September 18, 1985
  • Runtime 50 minutes
  • Network BBC One
  • Created September 23, 2015 by
    Administrator admin
  • Modified September 23, 2015 by
    Administrator admin
Name Type Role
Richard Holmes Writer
John Keegan Writer
Frederick Forsyth Guest Star