The Great Northern War-A Reading list

It was Barry Hilton’s Beneath the Lily Banners-War of Three Kings that lead me to The Great Northern War.  Previously I’d barely been aware of it.  Once bitten though and I thought I’d better improve my education. I made four fortuitous purchases:

The Russian Army of the Great Northern War 1700-21 by Boris Megorsky.  

 

  It's packed full of information, uniforms, flags, organisation and tactics, the key battles and the historical background to the GNW.  The reader quickly appreciates the breadth of Tsar Peter's task and the scale of his achievement. Actually it reminded me of what I have read about Russia in the Second World War.  The Russian army continually improved during the GNW

The Russian army liked field defences and fire power-the latter even for cavalry.  We are told of the amount of lead (of all calibres) thrown by  the Russian army at Poltava.  It's breathtaking.  As an example the Moskovsky Dragoons who fought mounted fired 13,337 fusil rounds and 3,700 pistol rounds - roughly 21 rounds per man.

As a new comer to the period this was just what I wanted and I note that long term students of the GNW are very impressed too. Not one to miss if you are at all interested in the GNW.


Peter the Great Humbled by Nicholas Dorrell- a translation from the Russian I think.  

It covers the doomed Russian Ottoman campaign which ended in a Turkish triumph.  If you ever wanted an army of Cossacks, Polish winged Hussars, Swedish infantry, Turkish Janissaries and Tatars (then still a power to be reckoned) this book is for you.  I felt this book improved my perspective on the GNW.  As with other Helion publications lots of good information and nice pictures.

The Swedish Army in the Great Northern War 1700-21 by Lars Erickson Wolke.  The Swedish army was highly motivated and very effective and the author tells us just how that achieved. The terms and conditions of the Swedish soldier and his social status compare well to those in any other European country I can think of.  He had, relatively, a lot more to fight for and was also systematically indoctrinated by means of religious precept.  The system also meant that unit cohesion and drill were also better than that the norm.  There was also innovation in cavalry tactics that enabled greater shock value on the battlefield.

In battle the often heavily outnumbered Swedes liked to identify weak points in the enemy line and strive to achieve local superiority there. Then to swiftly press an attack while their cavalry looked after the vulnerable flanks and exploited any breakthroughs.  Wolke does not see this as a uniquely Swedish approach to battle-correctly in my view.  He does remark that their high discipline and training enabled them enabled them to swiftly carry out battlefield choreography in a way that was simply beyond their opponents capabilities.  I'd add that the constant ability of the Swedes to reserve their crucial first fire until optimum range must have shaken most opponents.

Wolke takes the view that this superb military machine was intended only for defensive wars and ultimately would not survive protracted campaigns and continuous engagements abroad.  Half way through Poltava they, despite showing incredible discipline and courage, had had enough and at every level the army came apart.  It's fascinating stuff.  You also get uniforms (sadly including a wrong one for the life guard), flags and everything else on the label.


Finally, Peter Englund’s The Battle of Poltava. Very much from a Swedish perspective but not I felt overly partisan. Well written and illuminating.

The quality of information of all four books is high, relying on original sources rather than regurgitating secondary ones.  I note in passing that the first three are published by Helion and if the can maintain this standard I think they'll do very well indeed.  

I am now equipped to take a view about the Great Northern War which was the point of the exercise.  If you fancy doing the GNW from a standing start the books above will set you up.

For the gaming aspect I now eagerly await Barry Hilton's Great Northern War supplement for The War of Three Kings.

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