J.H. Elliott for Canto This came out in the early Eighties and has eluded my grasp until now. The book is based on the simple concept of examining these two statesmen in the light of their similarities rather than their differences. Both were remarkably similar in age and schooling (Olivares was intended for the priesthood and Richelieu for a secular career) and coming from the same background (both third sons of Royal Office-holders and cadet branches of major families). It appears now of course that Olivares' Spain was destined for disaster and Richelieu's France for La Grande Siécle. But as Elliott points out this was not so obvious then. Indeed, Richelieu was if anything faced with greater problems with a much more politicised and recaltricant nobility. The difference may have come down to the failure of de Cordoba before Casale. In all a very interesting comparative history. Old Duffer's Book Corner Book Reviews The Punic Wars The Northern Wars 1558-1721 1688: A Global History Richelieu And Olivares Warfare At Sea 1500-1650 Louis XIV The Renaissance At War The Great War and Modern Memory Battles of the Greek And Roman Worlds Histoire Militaire des Guerres Puniques Dictionnaire des Maréchaux de France The War The Infantry Knew 1914-1919 The Great War The Byzantine Wars The French Civil Wars The Somme The Myth of the Great War The Wars Of The Ancient Greeks Histoire de l'armée française de 1914 à nos jours To The Last Man: Spring 1918 Flodden 1513 Verdun 1916 The Mediterranean In The Ancient World The National Army Museum Book Of The Boer War La Bataille d'Abbeville Soldier Sahibs The Celtic Empire The Imperial War Museum Book of 1918 War And The World: Military Power And The Fate of Continents Back to Perfidious Albion #103 Table of Contents Back to Perfidious Albion List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 2004 by Charles and Teresa Vasey. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com