A Warrior Dynasty: The Rise and Decline of Sweden as a Military Superpower

A historian reveals the surprising role that seventeenth-century Sweden played in shaping Western history.

There has been a recent trend in history to interpret the rise and fall of great powers in terms of economics, demographics, or geography. But sometimes, pure military skill can propel a nation to prominence if it is simply able to crush all its opponents on a battlefield. No better example arises than that of Sweden beginning in the seventeenth century, holding supremacy over northern Europe for a century without any technological, geographic, or demographic advantages at all.

This fascinating book describes how the Swedes first arrived in continental Europe during the Thirty Years' War, under their king Gustavus Adolfus. Just in time to roll back the reactionary Catholic tide and buttress the Lutherans, the Swedes proved more innovative in battle than their opponents, using the new arm of artillery, plus tactical formations, to establish supremacy on the battlefield. This horrific war still exists in collective memory as the worst travail in German history, even worse than the world wars; however, along with the salvation of Protestantism, the emergence of the Swedes as a power to be reckoned with meant new geopolitical complications for the existing powers of Europe.

Adolfus was eventually killed in battle, but a successor, Charles XII, renewed Swedish aggression—this time for the object of conquest—as he found that no army on the continent could stand against his legions from the north. As later military leaders would find, however, the conquest of Russia comprised a considerable overreach, and Charles was eventually trapped and defeated deep in Ukraine, at Poltava.

In this work, renowned military historian Henrik O. Lunde unveils a fascinating chapter in the foundation of Western history that is often overlooked by English-speaking readers.