Michael Roberts is perhaps the leading authority on Swedish history today, and this book is extremely well written. The writing style is clear, detailed and easy to understand; one is not bogged down in a slough of meaningless facts. What is brilliant about this book as well, is that Roberts carefully places Sweden and the actions of Gustavus in context with the events happening in Europe. It covers every aspect of Gustavus Adolphus and his reign; there are in-depth chapters on Gustavus' foreign policy, the domestic and important military reform that he carried out, the king as a person etc. Roberts has also painstakingly gone through many Swedish primary sources as well; the book is written by a historian who has definitely done all the hard work to get the facts right, and more besides. This is a book I would recommend without hesitation to anyone studying Swedish history.

I read this because I really enjoyed Dodge's military biography of Hannibal, but this book, possibly due to the period covered, was episodic, and without knowledge of European political history during the reign of Louis XIV, hard to follow. The first section, covering Adolfus's campaign in the Thirty Year's War, was quite entertaining, mainly because his efforts were dramatic, innovative, and successful against overwhelming odds. However, once into the military exploits of Conde, Turenne, Cromwell, Eugene, and Marlborough, the narrative becomes rather monotonous, describing one siege after another, one uneventful campaigning season after another. (This, too, no doubt reflects the time: the whole period of the post-Adolfus Thirty Year's War and the War of the Spanish Succession was one vast war of attrition.) Dodge does describe the important battles quite well, and offers incisive assessments of the character and abilities of the period's leading military figures. The book is long (about 850 pages), and long on military facts and figures. Dodge, a veteran of the American Civil War, writes in a rather formal and technical style, adding to the difficulties in wading through the text. I would give the book an "A" for information, but a "C-" for readability. If the subject matter really interests you, I'd say give it a try. If not, pass.

When I first took this book out of the Amazon.com box, my first thought was, "What have I gotten myself into?" It was a massive tome, covering a century of European warfare in considerable detail. Not only was it huge in size and scope, but I was worried about the prose, given the age of the text.

Fifty pages into the book, I could not put it down. This is quite simply an extraordinary military classic. T.A. Dodge is an exceptional military historian. Unlike many of those who ply that trade, Dodge was a veteran officer and possessed of exceptional military judgement. This is no chairborne commando, but an insightful and experienced soldier whose wealth of practical military experience brings the reality of 17th Century warfare alive.

Any understanding of military history from 1618-1815 (yes, that's 1815, even though the book stops in 1712) will be deficient without this book. Dodge tells the critical story of how armies evolved from relatively disorganized and short-term field armies to vast, professional military establishments controlled by the monarchs of Europe. The evolution of the modern state cannot be fully understood if one does not appreciate this facet of the military revolution of the 1600s. Dodge is equally adept at bringing the battlefield tactics of the time to life, and illustrating their development. He skillfully guides the reader along the path of military evolution which ultimately sets the stage for Frederick the Great and Napoleon Bonaparte.

The caveats of this book are that it is long on text and short on maps. The lack of maps makes following the course of marches and counter-marches somewhat difficult. Furthermore, a basic knowledge of the geopolitics of the time is helpful.

For anyone with the fortitude, this book will bestow upon them a deeper understanding of a seminal period in European history.

This was, sadly, the only biography my library had on Gustavus Adolphus. This book was originally published in 1904 as part of a "Heroes of Nations" biography series. This book is ironically more interesting in that it is, in itself, a better piece of history than its substance. The author reflects at one point on his era of world peace, and pleads with the reader to understand the alien concept of a war-torn Europe -- writing a decade before the outbreak of WWI, its most chilling to read today. Other references make you smile a litte: "...the current reigning House of Romanoff" "...what we today call the dual monarchy of Austro-Hungary." And a telling pro-German remark at the end, when the French recovery of Alsace and Lorraine was established at the end of the Thirty Years War, the author notes "...for another generation of heroes to recover." A frank endorsement of the events of the Franco-German war of 1870-71, in which the two provinces were annexed back to Germany (to be lost again to France after WWI).

As charming as all of this is, this is a poor piece of scholarship. The author admits that he is nothing close to a scholar in the field. It is poorly researched, even for its time, and is clearly written for an English audience. Its nauseatingly pro-Protestant, and therefore indulgent in gross hero-worship over Gustav II. Its, in short, typical of early 20th century English school books. This is made even more evident with the absolutely silly and overdone illustrations of the book: odd sketches of exaggerated weapondry are awkwardly placed in any blank space provided.

Not a great piece of work in its own time, the book is a century old. In its defense, however, I will say that it was an incredibly swift and painless read.