Customer Reviews

Landsknechts (Men-At-Arms Series, 58)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
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The Landsknechts, by Douglas Miller, part of Osprey's Men-at-Arms series is a very useful little book. Despite the book's short length ( only 40 pp ), it is nevertheless packed with useful information on the history of the Landsknechts, as well as their structure and organization. Especially satisfying to this reviewer were the 8 pages of color plates, illustrated by G. A. Embleton, which contain illustrations of men of various ranks and positions within this mercenary company, such as dopplesoldner, captain, standard-bearer, sutleress, etc, as well as illustrations of several battle flags. This book, like all the books in this series is very attractively done.The book has served me well as a handy reference guide, as have the other Medieval/Renaissance books in this series. This is a very well-done series. Lee Freeman

The Landsknechts, by Douglas Miller, is a good basic introduction to these mercenary soldiers and campfollowers of the Holy Roman Empire during the Renaissance. As its original publication was in 1976, its scholarship is understandably outdated. It serves well as an all-around overview of the organization, weapons, tactics, battles, and lifestyles of the landsknechte, and would be a good volume for study by those with a passing interest in the subject. If you are serious about studying, reenacting, or re-creating the landsknechte, I would recommend that you read this book, along with the other landsknecht-oriented Osprey books, and then seek out more serious and scholarly works, especially those of more recent publication. -Anjabeth

I have not looked at one of these Osprey volumes for a while. But one of my Amazon friends reviewed it, and this seemed like an intriguing volume. And I'm glad that I purchased this.

For those not familiar with Osprey, the publisher specializes in short books, normally with nice illustrations. This is part of their "Men-at-Arms" series. The focus is on German "Landsknechts," an equivalent to the Swiss Pike men, a more well known set of troops.

These German soldiers were mercenaries. The book notes their military strategy, the nature of their equipment, how their pike technique differed from the Swiss. Several battles are discussed, providing a sense of how the "Landsknechts" were deployed. One of the more telling discussions was of the battle of Pavia (I think I'm right; sometimes it gets a little uncertain what the role of Landsknechts were in certain battles and which battle the author is writing about)--where German mercenaries were on both sides! And fought one another!

The book notes that the use of such soldiers was coming to its natural end, as cannon and early relatives of the musket were beginning to come into play. Their mercenary nature (and sometimes refusing to fight if they didn't get paid what they wanted) began to undermine their usefulness.

At any rate, an interesting look at these "men-at-arms."

The text is well-covered for a book of this nature. What shines is the artwork done by Embleton. These paintings have been the inspirational source of many contemporary miniature figures. This book still stands tall in the light of more recent Osprey offerings.

If you're looking for a single book to start someone off on the path towards understanding everyone's favorite multi-colored mercenaries, this is the book for you. Seriously though, it covers a lot of material that the uninitiated wouldn't even know to look for, and provides an excellent starting point for further research.

This book is a brief but in my opinion interesting work on the infamous German mercenaries that played such a vital role in late renaissance warfare. Miller covers their history (including the battles of Marignano, La Biccoa, Pavia, and Rome), dress, organization, and weapons. Several pages of artwork show the appearance of the mercenaries at diffented periods in their history. Overall, a concise and very readable book for those interested in sixteenth century warfare in Europe.

This Osprey title covers the elite corps of Holy Roman Emperors Maximillian I and Charles V. Having recognized the puissance of the Swiss mercenaries that brought the mounted knights of Europe to their knees, Maximillian copied their methods. Close order drill with polearms, supported by small arms and artillery. Because of the focus, this book recommends itself over other less useful tomes in the Osprey series. I deducted a star for the once again pathetic maps included. Otherwise worthwhile.

This is a pretty standard Osprey book, which is to say a good resource with a lot of valuable information. I liked their other Landsknecht book better (Landsknecht Warrior IIRC?)

A good overview of the history and organisation of the German Landsknechts by Douglas Miller. The chapters: Organisation -- Tactics and formation - Weapons -- Artillery and equipment -- The campaigns. The book is illustrated by G.A. Embeton.