This is very vivid, but for me written from an rather unusual viewpoint, essentially German nationalist, seeing a united Germany as best regardless of who ruled it. Very different from the popular Englsih-speaking Protestant historiography ( )

988 The Thirty Years War, by C. V. Wedgwood (read 21 Dec 1968) (Book of the Year) If I could remember all I read how smart I would be! This book is an excellent summary of a difficult period in history. I found I had forgotten much: e.g., the battle of Breitenfeld, Gustavus Adophus's greatest victory. A monument in the 19th century was erected on the field with the words: "Freedom of belief for all the world.' Wedgwood says: "The monument still stands, set back from a quiet country road in the shade of a line of trees. Three centuries have smoothed every scar from that placid landscape..." The battle was fought Sept 18, 1631. Gustavus Adolphus was killed in the battle of Lutzen on Nov 16, 1632. Nordlingen, the great Catholic victory, was fought Sept 6, 1634. This brought France openly into the war--on May 21, 1635. On Feb 15, 1637, Ferdinand II, emperor, died: "On Feb 15 at 9 in the morning his body and soul parted one from the other, the first to moulder in the vaults of Graz, the other to receive the reward for which he had laboured so long." This is an excellent book: The time was a fantastic time: 1618 to 1648. ( )

This is the best single-volume account of the Thirty Years War (1618-1648). The war was very complex but Wedgwood provides singular clarity. Other interpretations are possible, but her vision is strong and memorable. The Machiavellian machinations are head-spinning, one has to read carefully, the reward is a solid understanding of not only 17th C dynastic politics but how Medieval politics operated before the rise of the nation state.

Wedgwood is an old-fashioned historian like Gibbon, retelling the events in highly-readable prose, focused on the "great men". This can be problematic, the Thirty Years War was more than just the decisions made by a few elites - social, economic and other forces were at work. Her sources are almost all 19th century. There are no new insights on the war, it is a retelling of established views. As a political narrative it is not only a great work of history but also literature. ( )