The Thirty Years’ War: everything you wanted to know

This book provides a detailed and authoritative account of the Thirty Years War, a devastating conflict that transformed seventeenth-century Europe. Wilson argues that the war was not primarily a religious conflict but rather a complex interplay of political, social, economic, and dynastic forces. The narrative includes key events such as the Bohemian Revolt, the sack of Magdeburg, the Dutch revolt, and the interventions of notable figures like Gustavus Adolphus and Cardinal Richelieu. By the war's end, Europe had been reshaped, with the emergence of sovereign states and a secular order, but at a tremendous cost, including widespread destruction and long-term internal division in Germany.