Poltava 1709: Russia comes of age (Campaign, 34)

There is precious little information available on the Great Northern War that is written in English. This volume helps to fill a huge gap in the literature by providing a concise, fully illustrated and well-written narrative about this critical battle in the history of Europe. In my opinion, the very best work on this battle is Peter Englund's book, The Battle That Shook Europe: Poltava and the Birth of the Russian Empire. This book can serve as a supplement to that book, or can be a better choice for those 'visual learners' out there who prefer to have more illustrations and a lot less text. The color and black-and-white illustrations are especially fine, as is the description of troops who fought on both sides. Table-top wargamers like myself will especially appreciate the details about the armies, along with the excellent color maps.

I knew little about the Great Northern War before reading this book. Great easy read if you want to start studying Peter the Great and/or Charles XII. Very well written with a story-like flow. Good maps and excellent illustrations/pictures. Could not ask for a better overview of this battle. Learned a ton!

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It was exactly what was needed to help a teen put the Great Northern War(s) into focus, as well as into context.

Poltava 1709Few Americans have benefited from a formal education that included studies of the Great Northern War and the campaigns of Charles XII of Sweden. We seem to have to remind ourselves that, at one time, Sweden was a power to be reckoned with in European affairs. This interesting and well written book gives a quick review of the events leading up to the battle of Poltava, which marked the end of Sweden's dominance in northern Europe - and the start of Russian influence in the history of Europe.The author discusses the events leading up to the ill-fated attempt to again `put Russia in her place'. He gives a very good description of the armies involved, as well as the contrasting tactics employed by each. branch. His description of the lives and careers of the two protagonists, Charles XII and Tsar Peter, add to the overall quality of the book. The maps are clear and enlightening, as is usually the case in other books of this series.I strongly recommend this book to others who are interested in the subject. I feel that it reads as easily as a good novel and that it tends to inspire one to seek out further books on the subject.

This is a great book to learn all of the basic facts regarding the Battle of Poltava, and the results of the state of Europe afterward.I say it's great for the basic facts, because it packs in what exactly happened leading to the battle to the end result including strategies and tactics, but it doesn't bring you in the mind of the soldier. To restate, you will read about all of the objective facts of the battle, and the maps help the reader visualize how the battle took place.To learn about the Battle of Poltava on a more personal level, I recommend reading "The Battle That Shook Europe: Poltava and the Birth of the Russian Empire," by Peter Englund. You'll see the war from the Swedish perspective there.

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