The Northern Wars 1558-1721

Old Duffer's Book Corner

Reviewed by Charles Vasey

Robert Frost for Longman.

One of the excellent Modern Wars In Perspective Series from Longman. As ever the thread of narrative history is regularly crossed by strong sections of analysis of a quality that you will go a long way to better. The book starts with Ivan IV's defeat of the German Order and the resulting power vacuum into which Russia, Sweden, Denmark and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth plunged (with assistance from Brandenburg, the Turks, Tatars and Cossacks). In a series of wars very different things happened. Denmark chose the wrong solution and lost most of its landmass, Sweden chose the right one and prospered. Russian made a number of attempts at brutal conquest but took a long time to achieve what it might. The supposedly superior western combat methods had a distinctly spotty record against the supposedly defunct husaryia of the Commonwealth.

This is not a book for the innocent who believes the world of Lion of the North. There are plenty of characters (the Swedish rulers all being very individual) and much daring-do. There is also the analytical consideration of how states grow and why they function in particular ways. Given that much of this area is covered by non-anglophone sources this book would be recommended for this alone. It also happens to be very good on other bases. It left me reflecting how much of the spirit of the thing Svea Rike had.

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