This book examines the meteoric rise of Sweden as the pre-eminent military power in Europe during the Thirty Years War during the 1600s, and then follows its line of warrior kings into the next century until the Swedes finally meet their demise, in an overreach into the vastness of Russia. There has been a recent trend in history to interpret the rise and fall of great powers in terms of economics, or demographics, or geography. This is not always true, as this book proves, because sometimes pure military skill can propel a nation to prominence, if it is simply able to crush all its opponents on a battlefield. No better example arises than that of Sweden beginning in the 17th century, which held supremacy over northern Europe for 100 years without any technological, geographic or demographic advantages at all. This fascinating book describes how the Swedes first arrived in continental Europe during the 30 Years War, under their king Gustavus Adolfus. Just in time to roll back the reactionary Catholic tide and buttress the Lutherans, the Swedes proved more innovative in battle than their opponents, using the new arm of artillery plus tactical formations to establish supremacy on the battlefield. This horrific war still exists in collective memory as the worst travail in German history, even worse than the world wars; however along with the salvation of Protestantism the emergence of the Swedes as a power to be reckoned with meant new geopolitical complications for the existing powers of Europe. Adolphus was eventually killed in battle, but a successor, Charles XII, renewed Swedish aggression - this time for the object of conquest - as he found that no army on the Continent could stand against his legions from the north. As later military leaders would find, however, the conquest of Russia comprised a considerable overreach, and Charles was eventually trapped and defeated deep in the Ukraine, at Poltava. In this work renowned military historian Henrik O. Lunde unveils a fascinating chapter in the foundation of Western history that is seldom seen or recognized by English or American readers. AUTHOR: Henrik O. Lunde, born in Norway, moved to America as a child and thence rose in the U.S. Army to become a Colonel in Special Forces. Highly decorated for bravery in Vietnam, he proceeded to gain advance degrees and assume strategic posts, his last being in the Plans and Policy Branch of Supreme Headquarters, Allied Powers Europe. After retirement from the Army he turned to writing, with a focus on his native North, and given his combination of personal tactical knowledge plus objective strategic grasp has authored several groundbreaking works. These include Hitler’s Pre-Emptive War, about Norway 1940, Finland’s War of Choice, and Hitler’s Wave-Breaking Concept, which analyses the controversial retreat of Germany’s Army Group North from the Leningrad front in WWII. In A Warrior Dynasty he re-examines the potential of pure military skill in global affairs. His next, long-awaited work, will examine how America itself has fared in this regard during the last 50 years.
