"17th Century Warfare - reading?" Topic

Hello Everybody

I have always been interested in the Later Pike and Shoot era of the 17th Century. I have a very general knowledge of the big three; Thirty Years War, English Civil War and The Sun Kings Wars.

Can anybody recommend good books on this period of warfare.

cheers

Osprey "Elite" books about English Civil War are excellent for representations of period soldiers.

Osprey "Man at Arms" books about hat period are not that good.

Some of the "campaigns" series books about ECW are very difficult to read as text jumps back and forth from modern language to language of the period. Those and at least one about 30YW battle are not bad.

"Warfare in the seventinth century" by John Childs is excellent overview of all the European or European involved conflicts with politics, tactics and weapons. Excellent B/W and color contemporary illustrations. My favorite of all the above.

Thanks IGWARG1 and Condottiere.

What about the later period for the Sun King's Wars and beginning of professional armies, say 1650 – 1700.

Monmouths Rebellion, French Dutch War, Reunion Campaigns, Grand Alliance, Anglo-Dutch Wars, Decline of the Spanish Tericos, etc.

cheers

One of the best books on the Period, at least in England, from 1618-1700 is England's Troubles by Jonathan Scott.

It gives a nice overview of the period and places the warfare in it's historical context as well as explaining why things happened the way they did.

Stuart Reid 'All the King's Armies' is excellent for the ECW.

Getting into this periods as well. For the league of Augsberg (1688-1697) I wish there was more out there. John Childs "Warefare in the 17th Century" is a great book because it covers the Louis XIV wars of de-evolution and Dutch War (although in general terms – artwork is beutiful as well). There is a history on Sedgemoor that you can get from Cavalier books or On Military Matters (although I have not read it). Professor Childs just put out a very, very detailed acount of the Williamite Wars in Ireland (called just that) which is available at a number of sources. This is a very detailed book that really covers every skirmish and how things moved. It provides a good perspective of how war was fought at that time, and the limits of supply and terrain in the conflict, as well as political motivations. I would like to see the same type of book come out on the War of the league of Augsburg.

John Lynn also has a book on warefare in age of Louis XIV, a paperback available from OMM and Cavalier.

I proposed to Osprey Publishing on the website that a new book is published for some of these wars, League of Augsburge and Dutch War. There is just not a lot out there in English on these subjects.

Here's a bibliography of mine for the mid/late 17th Cent. Hope you find it of use.

Of the list below, one that stands out is Stuart Asquith's From Pike to Shot: it can be found on Antiquarian Book Exchange (google "abe"). It is very pricey, but probably the best single book on the topic. I second the Child's Warfare in the 17th Cent and the Chandler as being especially good, too.

Best,
Ed M

PRINT

1) Barthorp, Michael. Marlborough's Army 1702-11. Osprey: London, 1988

2) Brolin, Gunnar. Swedish Mercenary Forces: War of the League of Augsburg from 18th Century Military Notes & Queries No3 found on Magweb (www.magweb.com). Partizan Press, 2001.

3)--Deleted--

4) Chandler, David G. Atlas of Military Strategy. Free Press (Macmillian): New York, 1980.

5) Chandler. The Art of Warfare in the Age of Marlborough. Sarpedon: New York, 1994.

6) --Deleted--

7) Chartrand, Rene. Louis XIV's Army. Osprey: London, 1988.

8) Childs, John (General Editor, John Keegan). Warfare in the Seventeenth Century. Cassell & Co: London, 2001.

9) Childs, The Nine Years' War and the British Army 1688-1697: The Operations in the Low Countries, Manchester Univ Pr, 1991. (special thanks to Steve Darrell who so kindly forwarded me photocopied excerpts of this reference).

10) Embleton, Gerry and Tincey, John. The British Army 1660-1704. Osprey: London, 1994.

11) Gardiner, Samuel Rawson. Gardiner's Atlas of English History. Longmans, Green and Co: London, 1902.

12) Grabsic, Z and Vuksic V. The History of Cavalry (translation of Die Geschichte der Kavallerie). Facts On File, Inc: New York, 1989.

13) Grant, Charles Stewart. From Pike to Shot 1685-1720. Wargames Research Group: Lancing, 1986.

14) King, Ben. Fusil and Fortress: Being an Account of Warfare During the Time of His Grace The Duke of Marlborough. Benjamin D. King (Systems Analysis): Newport News, 1977.

15) Knotel, Richard. Uniforms of the World (1700-1937). Scribner's: New York, 1980.

16) Koch, H.W. The Rise of Modern Warfare: From the Age of Mercenaries through Napoleon. Prentice Hall: N.J., 1981.

17) Lynn, John A. The Wars of Louis XIV. Longman (Pearson Education, Ltd): London, 1999.

18) Moore, Anthony. The Army of Brandenburg Prussia 1685-1715. Gosling Press: Pontefract, undated.

19) Nafziger, George, The Nafziger Collection (17th and 18th Century Catalogs). See link

20) Sapherson, C.A. The British Army of William III. Partizan Press: Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, 1997.

21) Sapherson, C.A. The Danish Army]699-1715. Raider Books: Leeds, 1990.

22) Sapherson, C.A. The Dutch Army of William III. Partizan Press: Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, 1997.

23) Sapherson, C.A. The French Cavalry 1688-1715. Raider Books: Leeds, 1990.

24) Sapherson, C.A. The Imperial Cavalry 1691-1714. Partizan Press: Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, 1997.

25) Sapherson, C.A. The Imperial Infantry 1691-1714. No publication data, but probably Raider Books (as above).

26) Spindler, Martin Andrew. The Army of Hessen Kassel 1650-1700 from 18th Century Military Notes & Queries No2 found on Magweb (www.magweb.com). Partizan Press, 2001.

27) Schorr, Dan and Tyson, Mike. Dutch Colors and Standards of the War of the Austrian Succession from The Courier no 63 found on Magweb (www.magweb.com). Courier Publishing, Co, 1993.

28) Wise, Terrance and Rosignoli, Guido. Military Flags of the World 1618-1900. Arco: New York, 1978.

29) (anon.) The Blue King's Little Army: Bavaria 1680s from The Courier Vol IV No 5 found on Magweb (www.magweb.com). Courier Publishing Co, 1983.

USEFUL WEBSITES:

1) Nec Plurbis Impar (indispensable source for OOBs and information on the French Army): vial.jean.free.fr/new npi/

2) Daniel Schorr's Northern Wars site (much information on Danish Army and lots of other useful material that can be gleaned for LOA): megalink.net/-dschorr

3) Keith McNelly's Volley and Bayonet Page (go here for many official and non-official revisions and updates to the VnB rules, also much good historical information interspersed): link

4) Warflag (many WSS flags can be applied to LOA): warflag.com

5) The Spanish Tercios 1525-1704 (much information beyond the Tercio, to include a wealth of information on other armies, tactics, organizations, and battles, including the LOA era): geocities.com/ao 1617/TercioUK.html

6) Military History Links: link

7) Scans of French Army Uniforms of 18th Century along with flags (which tended to not change very much): link

8) Eric Veitl's Tricome page: link

9) Roly Herman's 18th Cent French Army: link

10) Land Forces of Britain (individual regimental histories-much good information to be gleaned here): link

11) Army of the Duke of Savoy at Marsaglia (good site with lots of good uniform information for both the Savoy units and foreign contingents): link

Thanks edmuel2000, that's great!

cheers