History of the Art of War Within the Framework of Political History: The Middle Ages.

?Hans Delbruck's History of the Art of War long ago attained the status of a classic work in military history. Recently Walter Renfroe, retired West Point professor, undertook the first translation into English of the 1923 edition of Delbruck's four volumes. That effort has now reached the third volume, The Middle Ages, which covers from Carolingian times to the 16th century. The work offers insights ... on such topics as the reasons for Carolingian expansion, an interpretation of feudalism, Italian city-state armies, German expansion against the Slavs, the rise of foot soldiers in the Later Middle Ages, and the emergence of the Swiss as the first modern infantry. Delbruck's aristocratic bias gives a weighted account of the importance of the horse in medieval warfare, but there is much valuable detail here, and text and notes have been translated into readable English. Delbruck must be checked against such modern works as Philippe Contaimine's La Guerre au Moyen Age, but any library maintaining a respectable medieval history collection will want this translation.?-Choice