Warfare in the Seventeenth Century (Smithsonian History of Warfare)

Rating:
Summary: The Pike and Shot Era
Review: At last a great work that try to write the truth of the Pike and Shot era, The seventeenth century for a lot of historian was the beginning for the modern warfare and the innovations of the famous Gustavus Adolphus were nothing new, but thanks to John Childs we now can read the history as it should be understanding that this century changes were evolutionary, not revolutionary.

All the conflicts are study with maps and illustrations, Thirty Years War, English Civil War(Cassell have a volume only for the English Civil War by Bob Carruthers and Stuart Reid which I also recommend) Franco-Spanish War to the Wars of Louis XIV, a great chapter about the Conduct of War 1650-1700, the Famous Rise of the Standing army and all the aspect of this Wars that make Europe seen so much bloodshed.

The Majors conflicts are study and this book will help you as a good introduction to some difficult theme like The Thirty Years War started as a religious war but eventually evolved into a political struggle between the Hapsburgs of the Holy Roman Empire and the Bourbon dynasty of France. Embroiled in this conflict were Austria, German Catholic princes, and Spain against France, Sweden, Denmark, and German Protestant princes.

Maps of the famous Siege of Breda(Arturo Perez Reverte have a great Novel from this siege, is fiction but would also help you understand the conduct of the soldiers in the beginning of the The Thirty Years War, "EL SOL DE BREDA") to some great battles like the Rocroi were the Spanish Tercios lost their reputation of the best Infantry of Europe(they were the best on their time)and as I say before with the help Paintings of some battles this is a Book for all the Historian to the re-enactors.Well this is a unique book, I like it and recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting reading, but not for novices
Review: First, I must admit that I have not read much about warfare in the 17th Century, other than some articles in Military History magazine. Therefore, I expected to learn a lot from this book. I was not disappointed, although I found some sections difficult to follow.

Overall, the book is excellent. The author's research is thorough, his writing detailed, and conclusions well founded. His main thesis of the book is that warfare in the 17th century was not revolutionay, but evolutionary. He provides ample evidence to support this point. He describes the technological advances that changed tactics and techniques on the 17th century battlefield, and also highlights crucial war, battles, and sieges that occurred in this era.

All of this makes for some fascinating reading, and the illustrations (maps, diagrams, images, pictures, etc) are excellent. My one main issue with the book is that it is hard to follow during certain sections. I think that the author assumes that the reader possesses both a decent knowledge of the events of the 17th century, and of European geography when he describes certain events. For instance, in the section about the wars of Louis the XIV of France, the author describes battles that occur all throughout Europe within the span of a few pages. I found myself flipping back to the reference section of the book, and maps to try and keep track of battlefield locations, and the key leaders involved.

Therefore, I do not know if this is the best book, if you are new to this era of warfare, like I am. Otherwise, I recommend this book to anyone interested in learning more about this "evolutionary" period of warfare in history.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting reading, but not for novices
Review: First, I must admit that I have not read much about warfare in the 17th Century, other than some articles in Military History magazine. Therefore, I expected to learn a lot from this book. I was not disappointed, although I found some sections difficult to follow.

Overall, the book is excellent. The author's research is thorough, his writing detailed, and conclusions well founded. His main thesis of the book is that warfare in the 17th century was not revolutionay, but evolutionary. He provides ample evidence to support this point. He describes the technological advances that changed tactics and techniques on the 17th century battlefield, and also highlights crucial war, battles, and sieges that occurred in this era.

All of this makes for some fascinating reading, and the illustrations (maps, diagrams, images, pictures, etc) are excellent. My one main issue with the book is that it is hard to follow during certain sections. I think that the author assumes that the reader possesses both a decent knowledge of the events of the 17th century, and of European geography when he describes certain events. For instance, in the section about the wars of Louis the XIV of France, the author describes battles that occur all throughout Europe within the span of a few pages. I found myself flipping back to the reference section of the book, and maps to try and keep track of battlefield locations, and the key leaders involved.

Therefore, I do not know if this is the best book, if you are new to this era of warfare, like I am. Otherwise, I recommend this book to anyone interested in learning more about this "evolutionary" period of warfare in history.

Rating:
Summary: Nice Overview of 17th Century Warfare
Review: This lavishly illustrated book provides a nice overview of the complex series of wars that comprised the 17th Century. The book briefly covers the 30 Years War, the English Civil Wars, and the wars of mid-century, as well as the wars of Louis XIV. There is even a chapter that discusses the wars outside europe. The pictures and maps are really what make this book nice. The text is concise and to the point. The only drawback here might be the often cursory attention paid to some topics. To cover an entire century of complex warfare in one slender volume is bound to leave many gaps. Still, the reader will find a nice introuction to this period, and can use this book as a stepping stone to move on elsewhere in readings.

Rating:
Summary: Nice Overview of 17th Century Warfare
Review: This lavishly illustrated book provides a nice overview of the complex series of wars that comprised the 17th Century. The book briefly covers the 30 Years War, the English Civil Wars, and the wars of mid-century, as well as the wars of Louis XIV. There is even a chapter that discusses the wars outside europe. The pictures and maps are really what make this book nice. The text is concise and to the point. The only drawback here might be the often cursory attention paid to some topics. To cover an entire century of complex warfare in one slender volume is bound to leave many gaps. Still, the reader will find a nice introuction to this period, and can use this book as a stepping stone to move on elsewhere in readings.

Rating:
Summary: Pretty but flawed
Review: This richly illustrated book is part of Casell's History of Warfare series, and the author is a professor of Military History at Leeds and has written extensively on 17th and 18th C. military. At 225 pp, the book is obviously just an overview of the century, with only 8 pp (most of them charts and illustrations) covering the Civil War in England.

Being unfamiliar with much of the 17th C. military history of the Continent, including the 30 Years War, Austro-Turkish War and Wars of Louis XIV, I found the book to be very educational without being overwhelming. But some layout and editing issues were irritating, particularly the inconvienent positioning of some critical campaign charts, and the near-total lack of specific credits or information about the many interesting period illustrations.

I've often felt that the English Civil Wars were more strongly influenced by decades of near-total warfare in all the surrounding countries than many authors credit, and that most books on the ECW seem to ignore the political, social and religious impact of Continental conflicts. Childs doesn't address this issue, preferring to stress his criticism of previous military authors' views that the 17th C. was a hotbed of military revolution and conceptual breakthroughs. He dismisses the improvements of the time by saying in his introduction, "These cautious and unspectacular changes were evolutionary, not revolutionary."

Childs also gets some basic military information quite wrong - here's his description of a museum photo on p. 153: "A collar of bandoliers, or the `Twelve Apostles' (English, c. 1650). Each wooden tube contained a musket ball plus sufficient powder to fill the chamber and flash pan. Bandoliers were principally associated with the matchlock musket; the flintlock's higher rate of fire required soldiers to carry more than twelve rounds and so the cartridge box became standard equipment". One hopes that his other sources of information are more correct!

But the charts and descriptions of European conflicts from the Baltic to Africa give a good overview of the main battles and major players, and the illustrations are well-chosen to match the material. Thorne-Bob says, "Check it out!", but consider looking at the library or picking it up on sale somewhere.

Rating:
Summary: Pretty but flawed
Review: This richly illustrated book is part of Casell's History of Warfare series, and the author is a professor of Military History at Leeds and has written extensively on 17th and 18th C. military. At 225 pp, the book is obviously just an overview of the century, with only 8 pp (most of them charts and illustrations) covering the Civil War in England.

Being unfamiliar with much of the 17th C. military history of the Continent, including the 30 Years War, Austro-Turkish War and Wars of Louis XIV, I found the book to be very educational without being overwhelming. But some layout and editing issues were irritating, particularly the inconvienent positioning of some critical campaign charts, and the near-total lack of specific credits or information about the many interesting period illustrations.

I've often felt that the English Civil Wars were more strongly influenced by decades of near-total warfare in all the surrounding countries than many authors credit, and that most books on the ECW seem to ignore the political, social and religious impact of Continental conflicts. Childs doesn't address this issue, preferring to stress his criticism of previous military authors' views that the 17th C. was a hotbed of military revolution and conceptual breakthroughs. He dismisses the improvements of the time by saying in his introduction, "These cautious and unspectacular changes were evolutionary, not revolutionary."

Childs also gets some basic military information quite wrong - here's his description of a museum photo on p. 153: "A collar of bandoliers, or the 'Twelve Apostles' (English, c. 1650). Each wooden tube contained a musket ball plus sufficient powder to fill the chamber and flash pan. Bandoliers were principally associated with the matchlock musket; the flintlock's higher rate of fire required soldiers to carry more than twelve rounds and so the cartridge box became standard equipment". One hopes that his other sources of information are more correct!

But the charts and descriptions of European conflicts from the Baltic to Africa give a good overview of the main battles and major players, and the illustrations are well-chosen to match the material. Thorne-Bob says, "Check it out!", but consider looking at the library or picking it up on sale somewhere.