Excellent overview of a not well known, but important war
This book provides an excellent overview of the armies involved in the War of the Grand Alliance. This war pitted Louis XIV's France against most of the rest of the nations in Western Europe. It was known as King William's war in the English colonies in North America, the first of the French and Indian Wars. The war basically ended in a draw, but made it clear that Britain and France were now the leading nations in Europe. The book begins with a description of what led up to the war, followed by a telling of the course and key events of the war. One weakness of the book is the lack of high quality maps. The war was fairly complex, and without great maps can be hard to follow. Then the book describes in detail the organization, equipment, weapons, and uniforms of the various armies that participated in the war. This is the heart of the book, and is very well done.
The book contains numerous good b&w photos of artifacts and paintings of the war. The best part is the outstanding full color paintings illustrating soldiers in the war. It should be noted that the book covers all of the European aspects of this war, including the Glorious Revolution in Britain. However it does not cover King William's War or other aspects of the war outside of Europe. Overall, if you have any interest in this not well known, but important war, I recommend you buy this book.
