Book Description
Robert I. Frost has written an examination of a period of critical importance for the history of eastern and northern Europe. The Northern Wars provides an accessible analysis of the neglected but highly important series of wars fought between 1558 and 1721 for control of the Baltic and for hegemony in northeastern Europe. Based extensively on primary and secondary material in several languages, the author provides a great deal of information unfamiliar to readers in the English language. Comparative in nature The Northern Wars examines the impact of the war on the very different social and political systems of Sweden, Denmark, Poland-Lithuania and Russia and explains why Russia emerged victorious from the wars. Robert I. Frost argues that the conditions and demands of war in northeastern Europe were different than those of western Europe and challenges the assumption that warfare in eastern Europe was resistant to change. The author also questions the traditional accounts of important figures such a Peter the Great and Gustav Adolf. For anyone interested in the history of northern Europe. Also available in Hardcover 0-582-06430-9, $79.95.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Robert I. Frost has written an examination of a period of critical importance for the history of eastern and northern Europe. The Northern Wars provides an accessible analysis of the neglected but highly important series of wars fought between 1558 and 1721 for control of the Baltic and for hegemony in northeastern Europe. Based extensively on primary and secondary material in several languages, the author provides a great deal of information unfamiliar to readers in the English language. Comparative in nature The Northern Wars examines the impact of the war on the very different social and political systems of Sweden, Denmark, Poland-Lithuania and Russia and explains why Russia emerged victorious from the wars. Robert I. Frost argues that the conditions and demands of war in northeastern Europe were different than those of western Europe and challenges the assumption that warfare in eastern Europe was resistant to change. The author also questions the traditional accounts of important figures such a Peter the Great and Gustav Adolf. For anyone interested in the history of northern Europe. Also available in Hardcover 0-582-06430-9, $79.95.

FROM THE CRITICS

Booknews

Frost (King's College London) fills in a neglected era the European history by looking at the crucial series of wars for control of the Baltic and for hegemony in northeastern European. He shows how at the beginning of the period Sweden and Poland were the dominant powers of northern Europe, and how by the end they were both in eclipse and Russian and Prussia were the new international superpowers. He argues that the conditions and demands of war in the northeast were different from those in western Europe, and challenges the common assumption that warfare in eastern Europe was resistant to change. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

A.F. Upton - Times Literary Supplement