Christine Shaw (1)

While the previous review of this book here is absolutely correct that this is more of a straight-forward narrative history of events in Italy for the time in question than the subtitle might suggest, I don't see that as a disappointment. I found it very useful to have a concise examination of how alliances and loyalties shifted over time, once Charles VIII decided that the time had come to assert what he saw as his rights in Italy, only for the ultimate end being for the French crown to mostly give up on seeking predominance in Italy, for the Italian city-states to be drawn into a larger international system where they were marginalized, and for the Austrian and Spanish monarchs to discover that, even if they did have predominance, they had to tread carefully when it came to Italian politics.

Actually, another thing that the authors do well is to explain how the art of war changed tactically from battles between noble men-at-arms on horseback that medieval military men would have understood to the system where infantry predominated (these were the glory days of the Swiss pikeman and German Landsknecht).… (more)

Mallett was originally commissioned to write this book for a series called "Modern Wars in Perspective" - when it become clear he would die before being able to finish it, Shaw was given the task to complete it. The end result is essentially a narrative history written by Shaw with a pair of thematic chapters written by Mallett inserted in the middle.

The book deals only with the Italian Wars in Italy, other theatres of the wars, which in the later part of the period were often the more important ones, being addressed only to the extent they impacted Italian affairs.

The narrative chapters go through 65 years' politico-military history* in considerable detail and within a relatively low pagecount (366pp total in the paperback) - accordingly, the writing is compressed and thin on analysis: you can learn a great deal of what happened, less about why it happened. Keeping all the personages and places that pass by straight takes some work. The thematic chapters are easier reading, focusing on the big picture rather than myriad details.

I wouldn't say I'm unhappy with the book, but I'm not ecstatic either. It's solid rather than brilliant.

* The ad copy at Amazon etc suggests the book concentrates on analysis of military technology and socio-economic contexts - don't believe it. There's such analysis here, but the bulk of the text is narrative history of armies marching about, kings deliberating policy, and popes machinating to make their nephews into dukes. The subtitle similarly may be considered a bit off the mark; there's not very much about "society" here.… (more)