This book examines the meteoric rise of Sweden as the pre-eminent military power in Europe during the Thirty Years War during the 1600s, and then follows its line of warrior kings into the next century until the Swedes finally meet their demise, in an overreach into the vastness of Russia.

"A study of how military skill alone can propel a nation to great-power status, and how the nation of Sweden once held sway over northern Europe for a century ..."--Jacket.

Gustav Adolf's Danish and Baltic Campaigns -- The Military Revolution: Dutch and Swedish Reforms -- Sweden Intervenes in the Thirty Years War -- The Breitenfeld and Rhine Campaigns -- The Tortured Road to Lutzen -- Swedish Military Operations in Germany 1633-1648 -- Defending an Empire Karl X and Karl XI -- Karl XII's Danish and Baltic Campaigns -- The Russian Campaign: Karl XII's Exile and Death.