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Overview
Drawing upon years of research into period documents, this book explains and illustrates one of the key turning points in military history, when the potential of gunpowder infantry weapons was first fully exploited. At the turn of the 17th century the Dutch, revolting against Spain, pioneered this great step forwards, harnessing disciplined mixed formations of musketeers and pikemen to the rediscovered tactical skills of ancient Rome. This doctrine was developed during the Thirty Years' War, and came to dominate the battlefields of the English Civil War. Illustrated with contemporary engravings and original colour plates, this book reveals how armies of pike and shot, cavalry and artillery were deployed by Dutch, Swedish, German and English generals, and how they ruled European battlefields for a century.
Synopsis
Throughout the 17th century, large parts of Europe were depopulated during wide-ranging and savage wars of religion and dynasty involving all of the major powers. These included the Dutch-Spanish wars of independence, The Thirty Years' War and the English Civil Wars. This was the key period in the development of 'modern' infantry tactics, incorporating the use of pole-arms and muskets together, hence the popular expression 'pike and shot'. Although cavalry participated in such conflicts, it was the infantry that was the decisive arm. Such infantry tactics involved different national schools on thought and practice, tested bloodily in great battles.
Keith Roberts is a respected expert in this field, who draws on extensive knowledge of original manuals of tactics to create a revealing study of the period. This volume will be both attractive to wargamers and worthy of serious academic attention.