The Thirty Years War

After Wallenstein's death, the Thirty Years' War turns toward one of its most ruinous phases, as the Emperor appoints a new commander and the Protestant cause marches into disaster at Nordlingen. Horn and Duke Bernard of Weimar ignore cautious counsel, choose honor over strategy, and suffer a crushing imperial victory that breaks Sweden's military advantage in Germany, shatters Protestant confidence, and sends allies scattering. In the wreckage, Oxenstiern is forced to seek survival through foreign support, while France under Richelieu steps forward with money, armies, fleets, and diplomacy, posing as protector even as it pursues Alsace and the Rhine. Meanwhile, Germany itself is shown as a land devastated by famine, lawlessness, disease, and moral collapse, where peace is urgently needed but constantly undermined by self-interest. The Peace of Prague, negotiated by Saxony and the Emperor, appears orderly yet excludes too many voices, leaving the roots of war untouched and provoking resentment on every side. Amid this turmoil, Duke Bernard's bold capture of Breisach briefly promises a new future, only for his sudden death to end one of the war's most brilliant and ambitious careers. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.