War and Society in Renaissance Europe, 1450-1620

by J.R. Hale

Book Overview

In the modern view of Renaissance Europe, the rise of humanism often obscures violence and warfare. As J. R. Hale observes, there was probably no single period in which there was neither war nor occurrences that looked and felt remarkably like it. This major new assessment by one of the world's foremost Renaissance historians analyzes the impact of war on government, economy, technology, the military, and civilian life and broadens our conception...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0801831962
• ISBN13: 9780801831966
• Release Date: January 1986
• Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.4" x 8.7"

Customer Reviews

Good survey of critical period in early modern history

War and Society attempts to explore the extent to which warfare affected social conventions and vice versa. The author explores a multitide of avenues: weaponry, politics, technological innovation, army composition, state finances, and impact on civilians. His conclusions are somewhat surprising at times, as he does not conclude that war had as great an impact on society as many believe. In fact, society had the greater impact on the conduct of warfare than strictly military factors. A good amount of detail is provided on recruitment, both of leaders and soldiers, mercenaries, early modern taxation, and effects of warfare on the formation of governments (or lack thereof). The weakness is that it is a very difficult book to read, with lots of words that will send you to the dictionary and sentences that last eight lines or so with 3 semicolons, 1 colon, and 7 commas. Despite that, if you are interested in getting a somewhat different view and style about the military-social relationships in early modern Europe, this is a good choice.