100 books like Weapons and Warfare in Renaissance Europe

By Bert S. Hall,

Here are 100 books that Weapons and Warfare in Renaissance Europe fans have personally recommended if you like Weapons and Warfare in Renaissance Europe. Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Book cover of The Thirty Years War

Laurence W. Marvin Author Of The Occitan War: A Military and Political History of the Albigensian Crusade, 1209–1218

From my list on premodern western warfare.

Why am I passionate about this?

From my earliest memories I’ve always been interested in military history, and as a young man I served in the U.S. Navy on a nuclear submarine. As an ardent bibliophile, my home and office overflows with books. As a professor, for the past 25 years I’ve been fortunate enough to teach a broad survey on western military history, which gives me the opportunity to experiment with many books for my own and the students’ enjoyment. The books on this list are perennial favorites of the traditional-age undergraduates (18-22) I teach, but will appeal to any reader interested in premodern military history. 

Laurence's book list on premodern western warfare

Laurence W. Marvin Why did Laurence love this book?

Wedgewood published this in 1938, on the cusp of World War II.

In many ways the disaster that was the Thirty Years war provided an allegory of what was to come. Many authors have tackled this subject since Wedgewood wrote, some far more massive than her 500 pages, but there’s a reason this one remains in print. Wedgewood wrote an eminently readable narrative that is as delightful to read as its subject is dreadful. She excelled at what narrative should provide: a sense of development, how a huge event happens from beginning to end, all while keeping the reader’s attention. 

Wedgewood conveyed the nastiness, carnage, and utter craziness of the conflict in a dispassionate, easily understandable way.

By C.V. Wedgwood,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked The Thirty Years War as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Europe in 1618 was riven between Protestants and Catholics, Bourbon and Hapsburg--as well as empires, kingdoms, and countless principalities. After angry Protestants tossed three representatives of the Holy Roman Empire out the window of the royal castle in Prague, world war spread from Bohemia with relentless abandon, drawing powers from Spain to Sweden into a nightmarish world of famine, disease, and seemingly unstoppable destruction.


Book cover of The Military Revolution: Military Innovation and the Rise of the West 1500-1800

Cormac O'Brien Author Of Outnumbered: Incredible Stories of History's Most Surprising Battlefield Upsets

From my list on early modern European warfare.

Why am I passionate about this?

During my career as an author, I have written on everything from U.S. Presidents to natural disasters. My true passion, however, is military history, a subject I have followed closely since childhood. Why? I have no idea. Nevertheless, I have read widely on the subject and, with the publication of Outnumbered, fulfilled a longstanding dream. The early modern period of European history, during which the continent’s culture left behind the Middle Ages and laid the foundations of the world we live in today, was an era rife with military change and innovation, as well as endemic conflict and the emergence of powerful, centralized nation-states, all of which I find enthralling. These books bring this time and place to life.

Cormac's book list on early modern European warfare

Cormac O'Brien Why did Cormac love this book?

In the year 1500 European civilization was fractured, deficient in natural resources, and unremarkable in its military technology. By 1800 it had gained control over one-third of the globe. How? This seminal work by Geoffrey Parker tackles that question with a sweeping assessment of global developments during the period, revealing the suite of innovations that allowed the West to expand so dramatically. Sparking a debate that continues to this day, it is a must-read on the subject of early modern technology, imperialism, and warfare.

By Geoffrey Parker,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Military Revolution as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This is a new edition of Geoffrey Parker's much-admired illustrated account of how the West, so small and so deficient in natural resources in 1500, had by 1800 come to control over one-third of the world. Parker argues that the rapid development of military practice in the West constituted a 'military revolution' which gave Westerners an insurmountable advantage over the peoples of other continents. This edition incorporates new material, including a substantial 'Afterword' which summarises the debate which developed after the book's first publication.


Book cover of Gunpowder and Galleys: Changing Technology and Mediterranean Warfare at Sea in the 16th Century

Cormac O'Brien Author Of Outnumbered: Incredible Stories of History's Most Surprising Battlefield Upsets

From my list on early modern European warfare.

Why am I passionate about this?

During my career as an author, I have written on everything from U.S. Presidents to natural disasters. My true passion, however, is military history, a subject I have followed closely since childhood. Why? I have no idea. Nevertheless, I have read widely on the subject and, with the publication of Outnumbered, fulfilled a longstanding dream. The early modern period of European history, during which the continent’s culture left behind the Middle Ages and laid the foundations of the world we live in today, was an era rife with military change and innovation, as well as endemic conflict and the emergence of powerful, centralized nation-states, all of which I find enthralling. These books bring this time and place to life.

Cormac's book list on early modern European warfare

Cormac O'Brien Why did Cormac love this book?

The great John Keegan called this “among the two or three very best works of military history I have ever read,” and it’s easy to see why. An authoritative, deeply researched examination of the Mediterranean system of warfare at sea in the age immediately following the introduction of effective gunpowder weapons, Guilmartin’s riveting book takes us deep into the interminable rivalries between Christians and Muslims across the inland sea, revealing the peculiar realities—technological, geopolitical, climatic, cultural—that shaped the era’s tactics and strategy. This is a book full of fascinating revelations about a largely misunderstood chapter of history.

By John Francis Guilmartin,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Gunpowder and Galleys as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Interspersing topical chapters with chronological ones, Guilmartin (history and early modern European history, Ohio State U.) explores how the Mediterranean system of armed conflict at sea operated over the course of the 16th century. Among his findings is that the war galley held it own against the broadside sailing vessel into the 1580s; and the because of the characteristics of black powder and early modern naval ordinance, there was no direct relationship between a cannon's barrel length and its maximum effective range. The 1974 first edition was published by Cambridge University Press. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)


Book cover of Siege Warfare: The Fortress in the Early Modern World 1494-1660

Cormac O'Brien Author Of Outnumbered: Incredible Stories of History's Most Surprising Battlefield Upsets

From my list on early modern European warfare.

Why am I passionate about this?

During my career as an author, I have written on everything from U.S. Presidents to natural disasters. My true passion, however, is military history, a subject I have followed closely since childhood. Why? I have no idea. Nevertheless, I have read widely on the subject and, with the publication of Outnumbered, fulfilled a longstanding dream. The early modern period of European history, during which the continent’s culture left behind the Middle Ages and laid the foundations of the world we live in today, was an era rife with military change and innovation, as well as endemic conflict and the emergence of powerful, centralized nation-states, all of which I find enthralling. These books bring this time and place to life.

Cormac's book list on early modern European warfare

Cormac O'Brien Why did Cormac love this book?

Christopher Duffy is a great go-to author for books on early modern warfare, and this is one of his finest—and most important--contributions to the subject. The transformation of the European landscape from a place littered with castles to one dominated by angular, masonry bastions, is an epic all its own, and here it is in all its complex glory. What emerges is a nuanced, nicely illustrated narrative of one of the greatest arms races in military history: increasingly destructive weapons vs. the fortified structures built to thwart them. There is plenty of action in this book, as well, as Duffy spares nothing in the telling of siege warfare and its grisly idiosyncrasies.

By Christopher Duffy,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Siege Warfare as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Hardback went out of print in 1989


Book cover of Darwin: The Life of a Tormented Evolutionist

Mark Denny Author Of Their Arrows Will Darken the Sun: The Evolution and Science of Ballistics

From my list on science and technology.

Why am I passionate about this?

Trained as a physicist and employed for twenty years as an engineer, my great interest in the application of science then led me to write. I authored technical papers on the physics underpinning venerable machines such as pendulum clocks and waterwheels; these were read by the chief editor at Johns Hopkins University Press, who invited me to turn them into a popular science book–the first of fourteen. Often, technological advances were made empirically–the development of sailing ships, bridges, or pocket watches–by working people with no formal knowledge of science, yet their designs survive as triumphs of human thought, as well as useful machines.

Mark's book list on science and technology

Mark Denny Why did Mark love this book?

Put plainly, this biography of a key figure in the history of science is so beautifully written. Of course, it is knowledgeable and full of historical details, yet so enjoyable to read that I felt sorry it ended after a mere 800 pages.

The characters–eccentrics, heroes, villains–are many and various and expertly placed in their historical perspective. The authors' enthusiasm for their odd, unorthodox, and brilliant subject is very clear, as is their writing.

By Adrian Desmond, James A. Moore,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Darwin as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A biography of the naturalist disputes misconceptions, including Darwin's status as a true scientist, discussing how Darwin concealed his theory of evolution for twenty years, agonizing over its implications and the impact it would have on his social standing.


Book cover of A History of the Sciences

Mark Denny Author Of Their Arrows Will Darken the Sun: The Evolution and Science of Ballistics

From my list on science and technology.

Why am I passionate about this?

Trained as a physicist and employed for twenty years as an engineer, my great interest in the application of science then led me to write. I authored technical papers on the physics underpinning venerable machines such as pendulum clocks and waterwheels; these were read by the chief editor at Johns Hopkins University Press, who invited me to turn them into a popular science book–the first of fourteen. Often, technological advances were made empirically–the development of sailing ships, bridges, or pocket watches–by working people with no formal knowledge of science, yet their designs survive as triumphs of human thought, as well as useful machines.

Mark's book list on science and technology

Mark Denny Why did Mark love this book?

My first go-to book when I want an intro to some aspect of science history. I learn something new (ok–something old) every time I open this book.

Published sixty years ago and surely out of print–but a classic. Covers all the sciences from the dawn of history. Surprisingly readable and SO comprehensive. (Except for the last 60 years. But you knew that.)

By Stephen F. Mason,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked A History of the Sciences as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The evolution of scientific inquiry and ideas since the time of the ancient Babylonians and the influence of modern cultural and technological convictions and expectations on contemporary research are examined


Book cover of The Lunar Men: The Inventors of the Modern World 1730-1810

Mark Denny Author Of Their Arrows Will Darken the Sun: The Evolution and Science of Ballistics

From my list on science and technology.

Why am I passionate about this?

Trained as a physicist and employed for twenty years as an engineer, my great interest in the application of science then led me to write. I authored technical papers on the physics underpinning venerable machines such as pendulum clocks and waterwheels; these were read by the chief editor at Johns Hopkins University Press, who invited me to turn them into a popular science book–the first of fourteen. Often, technological advances were made empirically–the development of sailing ships, bridges, or pocket watches–by working people with no formal knowledge of science, yet their designs survive as triumphs of human thought, as well as useful machines.

Mark's book list on science and technology

Mark Denny Why did Mark love this book?

I love this book for its affection for its characters and the colorful details of the world in which they lived.

It is a coruscating read about five curious men (curious in both senses) in eighteenth-century England at the dawn of the first industrial revolution–a revolution that they helped to create. 

By Jenny Uglow,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Lunar Men as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Led by Erasmus Darwin, the Lunar Society of Birmingham was formed from a group of amateur experimenters, tradesmen and artisans who met and made friends in the Midlands in the 1760s. Most came from humble families, all lived far from the centre of things, but they were young and their optimism was boundless: together they would change the world. Among them were the ambitious toy-maker Matthew Boulton and his partner James Watt, of steam-engine fame; the potter Josiah Wedgwood; the larger-than-life Erasmus Darwin, physician, poet, inventor and theorist of evolution (a forerunner of his grandson Charles Darwin). Later came Joseph…


Book cover of The First Industrial Revolution

Mark Denny Author Of Their Arrows Will Darken the Sun: The Evolution and Science of Ballistics

From my list on science and technology.

Why am I passionate about this?

Trained as a physicist and employed for twenty years as an engineer, my great interest in the application of science then led me to write. I authored technical papers on the physics underpinning venerable machines such as pendulum clocks and waterwheels; these were read by the chief editor at Johns Hopkins University Press, who invited me to turn them into a popular science book–the first of fourteen. Often, technological advances were made empirically–the development of sailing ships, bridges, or pocket watches–by working people with no formal knowledge of science, yet their designs survive as triumphs of human thought, as well as useful machines.

Mark's book list on science and technology

Mark Denny Why did Mark love this book?

Knowledgeable academic experts often write technical tomes that are as dry as their subjects, But Deane's historical exposition of Britain's Industrial Revolution is fascinating, full of insights, and well-written.

Why Britain first? The answers intrigue and engage. Why did other countries (the United States and Germany) outstrip the British from the mid-nineteenth century?

By P. M. Deane,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The First Industrial Revolution as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This book identifies the strategic changes in economic organisation, industrial structure and technological progress associated with the industrial revolution, which took place in Britain over the century 1750-1850 and which marked a watershed in world economic development - the beginnings of modern economic growth for developed countries and an example of spontaneous industrialisation for third world countries. The book assesses both starting point and achievement, analyses the substance of economic transformation and evaluates the role of government policy and institutional change in retarding or accelerating economic development. The second edition updates and expands the first by taking into account (and…


Book cover of War in the Middle Ages

Sean McGlynn Author Of Blood Cries Afar: The Magna Carta War and the Invasion of England 1215-1217

From my list on medieval warfare (if you love knights and castles).

Why am I passionate about this?

A boyhood fascination with knights and castles, plus the inevitable influence of Tolkien’s world, drew me into medieval history, especially its warring side. An MA and a PhD in medieval warfare consolidated my enthusiasm, with my first three books being on that topic (what I call my Blood and Guts trilogy). I remain fascinated by the all-encompassing influence of medieval warfare on society and its unforgiving impact on warriors and non-combatants alike. Writing, lecturing, and public talks on these have led me into other interesting fields, including two TV documentaries.

Sean's book list on medieval warfare (if you love knights and castles)

Sean McGlynn Why did Sean love this book?

This book was my “bible” during my days as an MA student of medieval warfare. Contamine convinced me that medieval warfare was truly at the heart of medieval society and thus deserving of dedicated study and research. While densely packed with facts and figures that can be daunting in their quantity, it is full of fascinating revelations, such as the bugler on the battlefield who died from over-exertion!

By Philippe Contamine,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked War in the Middle Ages as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Covering the ten centuries following the fall of Rome, War in the Middle Ages engages all aspects of its subject, including the military customs and conditions of the various Western European states; armor and weaponry recruitment; and rules of combat developed to limit bloodshed. Philippe Contamine writes with an awareness that, in both theory and fact, medieval warfare was constantly evolving. He opens with a chapter on Roman military disintegration and the practice of warfare in the barbarian kingdoms erected on the empirea s ruins. He then shows how feudalization multiplied conflicts, and describes the resulting growth of the "great…


Book cover of Women, Armies, and Warfare in Early Modern Europe

Laurence W. Marvin Author Of The Occitan War: A Military and Political History of the Albigensian Crusade, 1209–1218

From my list on premodern western warfare.

Why am I passionate about this?

From my earliest memories I’ve always been interested in military history, and as a young man I served in the U.S. Navy on a nuclear submarine. As an ardent bibliophile, my home and office overflows with books. As a professor, for the past 25 years I’ve been fortunate enough to teach a broad survey on western military history, which gives me the opportunity to experiment with many books for my own and the students’ enjoyment. The books on this list are perennial favorites of the traditional-age undergraduates (18-22) I teach, but will appeal to any reader interested in premodern military history. 

Laurence's book list on premodern western warfare

Laurence W. Marvin Why did Laurence love this book?

Lynn was one of my graduate advisors decades ago, but he wrote this long after I finished.

A highly respected military historian, Lynn did a remarkably sympathetic and nuanced job of explaining the vital role women played in early modern warfare. No, he doesn’t concentrate on the few who took on male garb and actually fought, but rather the tens of thousands of mostly nameless “camp followers” who provided essential services: food and fodder, as sutlers, and yes, as prostitutes. Quite simply, an early modern army couldn’t function without its extensive “tail.” 

One of the salient characteristics separating premodern and modern armies is how governments eventually, over a long period of time, froze out women from participating in any aspects of warfare by bringing under their aegis all the services (save prostitution) that women had heretofore provided.

By John A. Lynn II,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Women, Armies, and Warfare in Early Modern Europe as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Women, Armies, and Warfare in Early Modern Europe examines the important roles of women who campaigned with armies from 1500 to 1815. This included those notable female individuals who assumed male identities to serve in the ranks, but far more numerous and essential were the formidable women who, as women, marched in the train of armies. While some worked as full-time or part-time prostitutes, they more generally performed a variety of necessary gendered tasks, including laundering, sewing, cooking, and nursing. Early modern armies were always accompanied by women and regarded them as essential to the well-being of the troops. Lynn…


Book cover of The Thirty Years War
Book cover of The Military Revolution: Military Innovation and the Rise of the West 1500-1800
Book cover of Gunpowder and Galleys: Changing Technology and Mediterranean Warfare at Sea in the 16th Century

Share your top 3 reads of 2024!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,188

readers submitted
so far, will you?

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in Europe, the Renaissance, and China?

Europe 956 books
The Renaissance 97 books
China 646 books