Temptation

One has to admire the seemingly tireless productivity of author Bruno Mugnai, repeatedly producing high quality and well researched books on one of my most favourite subject areas, namely the Wars and Soldiers in the Early Reign of Louis XIV. This latest offering is volume 7, Armies of the German States 1655-1690, part 2. Part 1 covered the armies of Brandenburg, Bavaria, Saxony and Münster. The second volume looks primarily at the armies of the Electoral Prince Archbishoprics (Cologne and Trier), the three Brunswick states, the two Hessian states and the Palatinate. There is a final chapter covering other much more minor states such as Holstein-Gottorp, Baden-Baden, Baden-Durlach and the Bishoprics of Paderborn and Osnabruck. Of these I found complex relationship between the three Brunswick states explained well, if only for my benefit. The author’s inclusion of some the smallest states is also very welcome.

After the preliminaries where the fragmented nature of Germany is discussed and put in the context of the wider European theatre we are presented with the chapters mentioned above. In addition to a brief introduction to each of these states, the armies of each and their campaigns are discussed.

The stars of the book are the ten pages of completely splendid colour plates, all painted by the author. These images and the commentaries that accompany them bring the whole subject to life in startling colour. I will now have to paint a unit in yellow and another in blue with pink facings and breeches. The rest of the book is also replete with a wide range of contemporary black and white images and further uniform reconstructions, plus photos of surviving pieces of equipment. The maps are especially useful as they demonstrate the incredibly diverse and exhausting range of electorates, principalities, bishoprics, archbishoprics, free cities and the rest.

The appendices go further in explaining the composition of ‘Germany’ as a geographical expression by listing every single ‘state’, including the status of the ruling Prince, the size in square miles and population numbers.

This is another fine addition to the series and one I can recommend most highly. I am looking forward to the final volume out later this year I believe.


ISBN 978-1-804514-47-4 197 pages, soft covers.