{"title":"Books by Peter H. Wilson","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"9780141047478","title":"The Holy Roman Empire","description":"\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eTHE SUNDAY TIMES \u003c\/i\u003eAND \u003ci\u003eECONOMIST \u003c\/i\u003eBOOKS OF THE YEAR 2016\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Hugely impressive... Wilson is an assured guide through the millennium-long labyrinth of papal-imperial relations' \u003ci\u003eLiterary Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003eA great, sprawling, ancient and unique entity, the Holy Roman Empire, from its founding by Charlemagne to its destruction by Napoleon a millennium later, formed the heart of Europe. It was a great engine for inventions and ideas, it was the origin of many modern European states, from Germany to the Czech Republic, its relations with Italy, France and Poland dictated the course of countless wars - indeed European history as a whole makes no sense without it.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn this strikingly ambitious book, Peter H. Wilson explains how the Empire worked. It is not a chronological history, but an attempt to convey to readers why it was so important and how it changed over its existence. The result is a tour de force - a book that raises countless questions about the nature of political and military power, about diplomacy and the nature of European civilization and about the legacy of the Empire, which has continued to haunt its offspring, from Imperial and Nazi Germany to the European Union.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43201472495794,"sku":"9780141047478","price":20.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780141047478.jpg?v=1786011136"},{"product_id":"9780141006147","title":"Europe's Tragedy","description":"\u003cb\u003eWinner of the Society for Military History Distinguished Book Award 2011\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe horrific series of conflicts known as the Thirty Years War (1618-48) tore the heart out of Europe, killing perhaps a quarter of all Germans and laying waste to whole areas of Central Europe to such a degree that many towns and regions never recovered. All the major European powers apart from Russia were heavily involved and, while each country started out with rational war aims, the fighting rapidly spiralled out of control, with great battles giving way to marauding bands of starving soldiers spreading plague and murder. The war was both a religious and a political one and it was this tangle of motives that made it impossible to stop. Whether motivated by idealism or cynicism, everyone drawn into the conflict was destroyed by it. At its end a recognizably modern Europe had been created but at a terrible price.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePeter Wilson's book is a major work, the first new history of the war in a generation, and a fascinating, brilliantly written attempt to explain a compelling series of events. Wilson's great strength is in allowing the reader to understand the tragedy of mixed motives that allowed rulers to gamble their countries' future with such horrifying results. The principal actors in the drama (Wallenstein, Ferdinand II, Gustavus Adolphus, Richelieu) are all here, but so is the experience of the ordinary soldiers and civilians, desperately trying to stay alive under impossible circumstances.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43399883915442,"sku":"9780141006147","price":20.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780141006147.jpg?v=1786011228"},{"product_id":"9780141988887","title":"Iron and Blood","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e*WINNER OF THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON MEDAL FOR MILITARY HISTORY*\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e*A\u003ci\u003e DAILY TELEGRAPH \u003c\/i\u003eBOOK OF THE YEAR 2022*\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'No one interested in the history of Europe can afford not to read this stupendous book' Simon Heffer, \u003ci\u003eDaily Telegraph\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eIron and Blood \u003c\/i\u003eis a startlingly ambitious and absorbing book, encompassing five centuries of political, military, technological and economic change to tell the story of the German-speaking lands, from the Rhine to the Balkan frontier, from Switzerland to the North Sea. Wilson's narrative considers everything from weapons development to recruitment to battlefield strategy.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eGermans' military impact on the rest of Europe has been immense. If there is one constant it has been the sense of being beset by seemingly more powerful enemies - France or Russia or Turkey - and the need to strike a rapid knockout blow to ensure a favourable result. Almost inevitably, this has in practice meant protracted, relentless and often unwinnable wars, and - in 1939-1945 - moral catastrophe.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe author of definitive books on the Holy Roman Empire and the Thirty Years War, Peter Wilson has with \u003ci\u003eIron and Blood \u003c\/i\u003ewritten his masterpiece.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Hugely impressive' Richard J. Evans,\u003ci\u003e Times Literary Supplement\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56224720028021,"sku":"9780141988887","price":19.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780141988887_6cb504fe-9362-4469-8ffc-f6d324433f0f.jpg?v=1786032794"},{"product_id":"9780199642540","title":"Lützen","description":"The Thirty Years' War (1618-48) was Europe's most destructive conflict prior to the two world wars. Two of European history's greatest generals faced each other at Lützen in November 1632, mid-way through this terrible war. Neither achieved his objective. Albrecht von Wallenstein withdrew his battered imperial army at nightfall, unaware that his opponent, King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, had died a few hours earlier. The indecisive military outcome found an immediate echo in image and print, and became the object of political and historical disputes. Swedish propaganda swiftly fostered the lasting image of the king's sacrifice for the Protestant cause against the spectre of Catholic Habsburg 'universal monarchy'. The standard assumption that the king had 'met his death in the hour of victory' became integral to how Gustavus Adolphus's contribution to modern warfare has been remembered, even celebrated, while the study of Lützen's wider legacy shows how such events are constantly rewritten as elements of propaganda, religious and national identity, and professional military culture. The battle's religious and political associations also led to its adoption as a symbol by those advocating German unification under Prussian leadership. The battlefield remains a place of pilgrimage to this day and a site for the celebration of Protestant German and Nordic culture. This book is the first to combine analysis of the battle itself with an assessment of its cultural, political and military legacy, and the first to incorporate recent archaeological research within a reappraisal of the events and their significance. It challenges the accepted view that Lützen is a milestone in military development, arguing instead that its impact was more significant on the cultural and political level.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56227241918837,"sku":"9780199642540","price":28.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780199642540_4043e36b-fffb-48a5-bbd3-be684fd279b1.jpg?v=1786012511"}],"url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/collections\/author-peter-h-wilson.oembed","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}