Conflicts between Christian powers and the Ottoman Empire displayed completely different characteristics compared to other contemporary wars fought in Europe, war without mercy being the norm. The tones adopted by Western literature to describe the Ottomans resemble the ones recently used against the communist bloc and the Soviet Union, and it is probably not a coincidence that certain prophecies about the sultan, such as his arrival in Rome and watering the horse in San Pietro, survived until the post-1945 period, replacing the Grand Turk with the Red Army's Cossacks. This book deals with the organization, the composition and the history of the army of the Sublime Porte, starting from the information contained in Western sources. This approach, despite the partial origin of the information, allows a critical examination of the sources and the formulation of a vision that is not conditioned by the cliches that often occur about such topics, returning us to a a neutral vision of the complex Ottoman 'Military' represented with all its refined and sumptuous costumes and weapons apparatus. A larger part of the work is dedicated to the different types of clothing and insignia of the different corps, their evolution and the meaning of the different symbols.

During the 17th century, Europe experienced only four years of general peace: 1610 and 1680-82. This scenario of almost continuous strife provided the terrain for the rise of the standing professional armies. The states were eager to avoid a repetition of the chaos and destruction that had plagued Europe during the Thirty Years' War, and therefore invested in these larger, more powerful armies to reduce the risks and costs of war. Some historians considered this act to be one of the most important institutional developments of the early modern world. The permanent armies became an organic feature of the Old Regime, a symbol of its power and strength, the means by which the prince could defend his interest and play an active role in the International policy. In the opinion of many contemporaries, it offered an opportunity to exploit strategic knowledge, to examine the effectiveness of military tactics and become aware of the increasing importance of the overall organization of the army. It would allow the military classes to occupy a significant place alongside the major European powers. In this scenario, the Imperial Army represents an interesting laboratory, which involved the multicultural Habsburg's domains and the Holy Roman-Germanic Empire in the birth of one of the major standing army of Europe. The history, organization, uniforms and ensigns of the Imperial army and the 'Reichsarmee' are here presented for the first time in a single book, with a lot of unpublished iconography and data.

Prolific Italian artist and author, Bruno Mugnai introduces the Dutch Army of the third quarter of the 17th century in the first of a new 8 volume series that covers the armies of early years of Louis XIV reign. France and the United Provinces represented opposite models of state government during the 17th century. The contrary nature of their political structure led to conflict on several occasions during this period. Military Historians have focused research onto the final phase of the conflicts such as the Wars of the Grand Alliance and the Spanish Succession, which coincides with the beginning of the long decline for both countries. Mugnai examines the evolution of the Dutch Army, its equipment, weapons and tactics, along with its uniforms and flags and ensigns. The book is lavishly illustrated and contains 8 specially commissioned colour plates that depicts the Army of United Provinces during the nation's 'Golden Age'.

It has been a commonly held historical belief that in the second half of the 17th century, the Spanish army suffered such catastrophic defeats that it effectively brought about the collapse of the state as a major player on the European stage. The wars, fought out in Catalonia, Franche Comte, Flanders and Italy, resulted in a series of substantial defeats for Spain. The forces of Louis XIV carried all before them. Spain's ability to fend off the French monarch's assault was not eased by the fact that, at the same time, Spain had faced the Portuguese in the Iberian Peninsula, the English in the Caribbean, the Algerians in Melilla, as well as further insidious French assault in southern Italy and in the colonies. In this regard, it would be more correct to consider this age as a period of resilience, rather than military defeats. Equally superficially, the Portuguese War of Independence too was considered as a peripheral conflict of minor interest, while it also involved France and England in addition to the countries directly concerned. The story, organisation, uniforms and equipment of the Spanish and Portuguese armies of this age are dealt for the first time in a single book, after archive's sources and unpublished iconography.

It was a commonplace that Italy offers little of interest to military historians after the full flower of the Renaissance, and that it had been deservedly forgotten. Italian Risorgimento desperately wanted to repudiate the values of the previous centuries. In place of a politically fragmented and militarily weak collection of small states, in the thrall of Counter-Reformation Catholicism, the 19th century historians dreamed of a united, secular, industrial and well armed country that could withstand comparison to France, England and Germany. The lack of interest on this period increased even more under the fascist regime, which preferred to elude a period in which Italian states appeared as political entities dominated by foreign interference, and focusing on the unreal Imperial myth reworked from the vestiges of the monuments of ancient Rome. However, in the 17th century Italy was the third-largest country by population in Europe, after France and Germany, passing into second position for a century after 1700. Northern as well as southern Italy constituted a key place in the strategic duel between Spain and France, and the Peninsula lied on the front line in the struggle against the Ottoman Empire. Moreover, Italian states constituted good examples of fairly efficient governance machines, which developed many matters, included the 'Military'. Some of these states experienced long periods of wars, to the point that the claim regarding social elites progressively demilitarized to an unequalled extent anywhere else in Europe should be considered no longer valid.

Austria was one of the five major players of the Napoleonic Wars. In early 19th century, the Austrian army (Kaiserliche-KoeniglicheHeer) was the third largest and one of the best-trained armies in the world.The individual regimentsperformed well and were considered solid. However, hampered by the inherent conservatism of the hierarchy, the Austrians had to face the most modern army in Europe. Despite the many defeats suffered, the Austrian soldiers performed with discipline and played a central role in the coalitions against France, from the campaigns in 1790s, to the Austerlitz campaign of 1805, the closely-balanced battles of 1809, and the final victorious campaigns of 1813-1814. Austrian cavalry, in particular, was considered one of the best in Europe by allies as well as enemies. For the first time, this topic is introduced starting from the first campaign against France. The book includesthe regimental histories of each unit after the original sources, unpublished iconography, and is completed by detailed illustrations depicting uniforms and equipment of the mounted 'kaiserlich' white coats.