Giant of the Grand Siècle
Giant of the Grand Siècle
An 'invisible giant', the seventeenth-century French army was the largest and hungriest institution of the Bourbon monarchy. Combining social and cultural emphases with more traditional institutional and operational concerns, this book examines the army in depth, studying recruitment, composition, discipline, motivation, selection of officers, leadership, administration, logistics, weaponry, tactics, field warfare and siegecraft. The portrait that emerges differs from what current scholarship might have predicted. Instead of claiming that a 'military revolution' transformed warfare, Lynn stresses evolutionary change. This work also offers surprising insights into absolutism and the relationship between the monarchy and aristocracy. Questioning widely held assumptions about state formation and coercion, Lynn argues that this standing army was primarily devoted to border defence and only rarely to internal repression.
- Offers tremendous details on all aspects of French military in seventeenth century
- A revisionist interpretation of the developments in early modern warfare
- Adds to current discussions of absolutism and state formation
Reviews & endorsements
'John Lynn has undoubtedly made a substantial contribution to the growing literature which has revised the history of seventeenth-century France.' The Times Literary Supplement
Product details
December 2006Paperback
9780521032483
672 pages
235 × 157 × 36 mm
0.932kg
Available
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Table of Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Part I. Context and Parameters:
- 1. Contexts of military change in the Grand Siècle
- 2. Army growth
- Part II. Administration and Supply:
- 3. The military administration
- 4. Food and fodder
- 5. Providing other essentials
- 6. The tax of violence and contributions
- Part III. Command:
- 7. The costs of regimental command
- 8. The culture of command
- 9. The high command
- Part IV. The Rank and File:
- 10. Army composition
- 11. Recruitment
- 12. Discipline and desertion
- 13. Elements of morale and motivation: dependence and loyalty
- Part V. The Practice of War:
- 14. Weaponry and tactics
- 15. Learning and practising the art of field warfare
- 16. Positional warfare
- Epilogue: insights on state formation
- Bibliography
- Index.
