Warfare in the Seventeenth Century (Smithsonian History of Warfare)

The comprehensive history of the social, political, and economic contexts of the significant wars that raged across Europe in the seventeenth century. 70 color, 30 b/w photographs.

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.


Nice Overview of 17th Century Warfare   July 1, 2003
 2 out of 3 found this review helpful

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.


Interesting reading, but not for novices   June 20, 2002
 16 out of 17 found this review helpful

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.