The German Military Enterpriser and His Work Force: A Study in European Economic and Social History

This richly researched book studies the evolution of mercenary organization in Germany through 1450-1650, from the earliest mercenaries hired after the collapse of feudal levies, to the military contractors established in the fifteenth century, to the expansion and transformation of the contract system during the Thirty Years' War. Despite the misery of ordinary mercenaries' lives and work, the mercenary system continued to grow in part because prolonged wars in Europe triggered widespread unemployment and the disintegration of feudal holdings.