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Imperial Armies Of The Thirty Years' War (1): Infantry And Artillery (Men-at-Arms)

This history of the Catholic armies of the Hapsburg Empire that fought in the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648) explores the role of infantry and artillery during the last major religious war in mainland Europe. As the states of the Holy Roman Empire fractured along religious lines, all of Europe was plunged into a bloody conflict that lasted three decades, decimated populations, and annihilated communities. However, amidst this social, political, and religious catastrophe, important changes were experienced within the organization of armed forces. The war saw the end of the large mercenary forces and the beginnings of the well-disciplined national army. This book charts this progression, illustrating and explaining the forces of the key Catholic armies, while exploring the weapons, organization, tactics, and colorful uniforms used by the infantry and artillery.

Series: Men-at-Arms (Book 457)

Paperback: 48 pages

Publisher: Osprey Publishing; First Edition edition (October 27, 2009)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 1846034477

ISBN-13: 978-1846034473

Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 0.1 x 9.7 inches

Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)

Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)

Best Sellers Rank: #686,866 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #61 in Books > History > Military > Uniforms #12856 in Books > History > Europe

Some of Osprey's products are really first class; others are no better than your average Wikipedia article. Even so, I was surprised by the low quality of this book.Most of the text seems to be written for someone who has little knowledge of 17th century warfare; it reads more like a general guide to the Thirty Years War than to the Imperial army specifically, and doesn't do that very well either.The writer is clearly a non-native English speaker - and many of the specialist military terms are incorrectly translated or simply 'off', for example the term 'marksman', meaning perhaps musketeer? 'Rifleman' (figure E3) where Jäger would have been much better. 'Pikeman in light dress'... hmm, perhaps 'unarmoured pikeman'.The photo-realistic artwork is jarring at first, but I can get used to it. More alarming are the mistakes - almost every reconstructed plate has serious errors, from the anachronistic buckles on shoes and hatbands and the strange-looking lace collars, to entirely bogus figures, such as the 'Rifleman' E3, which is taken directly from a mannequin in the Army Museum in Vienna, designed many decades ago using outdated research. It is customary in the plates commentary section to describe the basis of the illustrator's reconstruction, a custom that here, with one or two exceptions, gets thrown aside.Both author and illustrator seem to have a poor feel for the period and this shows on every page. Even the information on the Hungarians and Croats, where they might have some local expertise, is sparse and generalised and the reconstructed Hayduk and Croat on plate E are two-dimensional and in places, plain wrong.

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