Wallenstein, soldier under Saturn
By: a biography by Francis Watson
Publisher: Chatto & Windus
Published: 1938
Place of publication: London
Language: eng
Number of pages: 439
Subjects: Thirty Years' War, 1618-1648; History
Description: Here is the only modern biography in English of Albrecht von Wallenstein, the great Habsburg general of the Thirty Years War. Against the background of war and destruction, of tortuous intrigue, biographer Watson has limned the enigmatic Wallenstein, tracing skillfully his furious, dramatic life from an indigent Protestant nobleman, through Catholic glory and prestige, to the day of his tragic assassination. The thrilling climb to almost unexampled power of the unknown Bohemian soldier; the struggle with the cleverest diplomats in Europe; the reclaiming of war-wasted lands to industry and prosperity; the dogged conﬂict with Gustavus Adolphus that ended at Lützen; and at last the tragedy of a dishonored death; these are the main incidents in a story that Watson has traced with precision and imagination. Nor does the biographer neglect Wallenstein's less dramatic activities: that the great Kepler cast his horoscope, that he planned a canal, built magniﬁcent palaces, founded schools, hospitals, and monasteries, and took the cure at Carlsbad for the gout. In preparation for this book, Watson travelled three thousand miles over sites and battleﬁelds of the Thirty Years War, and studied original documents in Vienna, Prague, Dresden and elsewhere. The result is an intensely interesting and lively piece of writing as well as an authoritative biography.--Adapted from dust jacket.
Notes: "Bibliographical appendix": p. 418-424.