LONDON (AP) — British academic John Keegan, whose studies of men at war are counted among the classic works of military history, has died, The Daily Telegraph said Friday. He was 78.

A scholar of battle who never served in the military, Keegan’s interests ranged from the American Civil War to the Iraq War by way of Agincourt, Waterloo and both world wars. His 1976 work “The Face of Battle,” which provided a soldier’s-eye view of the blood and terror of combat, remains one of his most popular works. Yet in his introduction he denied possessing any special insight into the trappings of warfare.