Listen and read

Step into an infinite world of stories

  • Listen and read as much as you want
  • Over 400 000+ titles
  • Bestsellers in 10+ Indian languages
  • Exclusive titles + Storytel Originals
  • Easy to cancel anytime
Subscribe now
Details page - Device banner - 894x1036

Matchlocks to Flintlocks: Warfare in Europe and Beyond, 1500–1700

Language
English
Format
Category

History

“A big picture view of how changes in the way war was waged between 1500 and 1700 affected the world at large … an exemplary book. ” —War in History

In the early modern world three dominant cultures of war were shaped by a synergy of their internal and external interactions. One was Latin Christian western Europe. Another was Ottoman Islam. The third, no less vital for so often being overlooked, was east-central Europe: Poland/Lithuania, Livonia, Russia, the freebooting Cossacks, a volatile mix of variations on a general Christian theme.

William Urban’s fascinating narrative is an integrated account of early modern war on the ground: of campaigns and battles, soldiers and generals. Temporally it extends from the French invasion of Italy in 1494 to Austria’s Balkan victories culminating in the 1718 Treaty of Peterwardein. Geographically it covers ground from the Low Countries to the depths of the Ukraine.

That narrative in turn focuses Urban’s major analytical points: the replacement of “crowd armies” by professionals, and the professionals’ integration into crown armies: government-supervised, bureaucratized institutions. The key to this process was the mercenary. Originally recruited because the obligations of feudal levies were too limited, mercenary forces evolved operationally into skilled users of an increasingly complex gunpowder technology in ever more complex tactical situations. By the end of the seventeenth century, soldiers were identifying with the states and the rulers they served.

“This book will have a particular appeal for arms and armor collectors because it is written from the soldier’s perspective. It charts the fighting man’s transition from warrior to soldier and from soldier to servant of the state. ” —Classic Arms and Militaria

© 2011 Frontline Books (Ebook): 9781781599426

Release date

Ebook: 13 December 2011

Others also enjoyed ...

  1. The Borgias: Power and Depravity in Renaissance Italy Paul Strathern
  2. The Splintered Empires: The Eastern Front 1917–21: The Eastern Front 1917-21 Prit Buttar
  3. The White Ship: Conquest, Anarchy and the Wrecking of Henry I’s Dream Charles Spencer
  4. Hannibal: A History of the Art of War among the Carthaginians and Romans Down to the Battle of Pydna, 168 BC, with a Detailed Account of the Second Punic War Theodore Ayrault Dodge
  5. The White Sniper: Simo Häyhä Tapio Saarelainen
  6. The New Rules of War: Victory in the Age of Durable Disorder Sean McFate
  7. Children of Ash and Elm: A History of the Vikings Neil Price
  8. To Catch A King: Charles II's Great Escape Charles Spencer
  9. Admiral Sir John Norris : and the British Naval Expeditions to the Baltic sea 1715-1727 David Denis Aldridge
  10. The Kings of Algiers: How Two Jewish Families Shaped the Mediterranean World during the Napoleonic Wars and Beyond Julie Kalman
  11. The Involuntary American: A Scottish Prisoner's Journey to the New World Carol Gardner
  12. The Medici: Power, Money, and Ambition in the Italian Renaissance Paul Strathern
  13. 1918 Year of Victory: The end of the Great War and the shaping of history Ashley Ekins
  14. The Last Napoleon: A True-Life Tragic Story. Swept by fate from that of a potential emperor to a tragic and brutal end as a young man. Adam Hamilton
  15. The Secret World of Christoval Alvarez Ann Swinfen
  16. Essex Dogs Dan Jones
  17. Bartholomew Fair Ann Swinfen
  18. The Enterprise of England Ann Swinfen
  19. Code Name: Lise: The True Story of the Woman Who Became WWII's Most Highly Decorated Spy Larry Loftis
  20. Blood & Sugar: Award-Winning Historical Crime from the Author of The Square of Sevens Laura Shepherd-Robinson
  21. City of Vengeance D. V. Bishop
  22. The Invasion of Gaul: Marius' Mules Book 1 S. J. A. Turney
  23. Blood Brothers: The Story of the Strange Friendship between Sitting Bull and Buffalo Bill Deanne Stillman
  24. The Bear of Byzantium S.J.A. Turney
  25. A Covert Affair: Julia Child and Paul Child in the OSS Jennet Conant
  26. Lord of Darkness Robert Silverberg
  27. Merchant Kings: When Companies Ruled the World, 1600-1900 Stephen R. Bown
  28. Carthage Must Be Destroyed: The Rise and Fall of an Ancient Civilization Richard Miles
  29. Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis Thomas Jefferson And The Opening Of The American West Stephen E. Ambrose
  30. Philippine-American Heritage in Washington, D.C. Erwin R. Tiongson
  31. Daughter of War: An unputdownable historical epic S.J.A. Turney
  32. The Survivor Vince Flynn
  33. The Prince and the Pauper Mark Twain
  34. 47 Ronin Stephen Turnbull
  35. Our Man Adelaide: The Faceless Man Martin Schiller
  36. No Man's Land: Reschen Valley Part 1 Chrystyna Lucyk-Berger
  37. Felix Wild - A Foundling on Board HMS Warrior Peter Broadbent
  38. Laurits Andersen - China Hand, Entrepreneur, Patron Peter Harmsen
  39. King of the Gunrunners: How a Philadelphia Fruit Importer Inspired a Revolution and Provoked the Spanish-American War James W. Miller
  40. Hidden Cargo: A Novel Robin Lloyd
  41. This Southern Metropolis: Life in Antebellum Mobile Mike Bunn