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Title: Machiavellian machinations
Review: This is the best single-volume account of the Thirty Years War(1618-1648). The war was very complex but Wedgwood provides singularclarity. Other interpretations are possible, but her vision is strongand memorable. The Machiavellian machinations are head-spinning, one hasto read carefully, the reward is a solid understanding of not only17th C dynastic politics but how Medieval politics operatedbefore the rise of the nation state.Wedgwood is an old-fashioned historian like Gibbon, retelling the eventsin highly-readable prose, focused on the "great men". This can beproblematic, the Thirty Years War was more than just the decisions madeby a few elites - social, economic and other forces were at work. Hersources are almost all 19th century. There are no new insights on thewar, it is a retelling of established views. As a political narrative itis not only a great work of history but also literature.
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