The Thirty Years War

By: C. V. Wedgwood

Narrated by: Charlton Griffin

Length: 19 hrs and 45 mins

Publisher's summary

Initially, the Thirty Years War was precipitated in 1618 by religious conflicts between Protestants and Catholics in the Holy Roman Empire. But the conflict soon spread beyond religion to encompass the internal politics and balance of power within the Empire, and then later to the other European powers. By the end, it became simply a dynastic struggle between Bourbon France and Habsburg Spain. And almost all of it was fought out in Germany. After 30 years of conflict, entire regions of Germany and Bohemia were depopulated and destroyed by marching armies, fire, famine, and disease. It bankrupted most of the participants while leaving thousands of German villages, towns, and even cities in smoldering ruin.

Because of the political and geographical complexity of the early 17th century, an understanding of The Thirty Years War can be difficult to grasp in the beginning. Listeners will be rewarded by patience. As an aid to comprehension, we recommend the online Wikipedia article "The Thirty Years War" for maps and overviews of the geography, principle leaders, and major battles.

Total running time: 19 hours and 48 minutes. Narrator: Charlton Griffin.

©1938 Estate of C. V. Wedgwood (P)2012 Audio Connoisseur

Read the book instead

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

I stopped listening to it after about 2 hours, so I consider my time well-saved, not well-spent. I read the rest of the book in paper instead.

If you’ve listened to books by C. V. Wedgwood before, how does this one compare?

Irrelevant question. This book is a classic, but I was rather disappointed in it. Yes, it's a very complex topic with an enormous amount of detail, but lots of good history deals with that and does so with much more energy than CVW does. Wedgwood's writing is very dry and emphasizes political and diplomatic aspects so heavily that the texture of this time and place, and the lived experience of the players (great and small) is really quite poorly dealt with. Considering how awful the 30 Years War was for millions of people, this book feels very detached. Some of that is probably due to sources, to historical writing in the 30s being different from later decades, and to the way Brits write history. But if you compare this book to, say, Guns of August [an equally brain-scrambling topic], you can see how much more feel for character, drama, context, etc., somebody like Tuchman has. After a while, how many Electors and Margraves do you really need to know about.

Would you be willing to try another one of Charlton Griffin’s performances?

NO!! I'm glad this guy does these kinds of books if it encourages people to read them, but his performance is AWFUL--way over melodramatic and ponderous. He reads EVERY SENTENCE as if it were the opening lines of "Paradise Lost." CRAZY!! That's why I stopped listening and asked for my credit back.

Did The Thirty Years War inspire you to do anything?

Not impale people who don't deserve it.

Excellent work of history

Very well written, paced and performed. The little bits of music at the beginning of each chapter are the only thing I'd take away.

Superb historical literature

Although first published in 1938 and perhaps superseded in some respects, it remains a dependable account. Much more importantly it is superb historical literature. The last chapter is especially magnificent for its summation and wisdom.

Disjointed

After reading this book I can't tell you anything more about the Thirty Year's War than I already knew; the author failed at storytelling. I've read tough histories (e.g., Thucydides) before, but this book abandons all pretense at chronology. The chapters themselves are coherent, and many are well written. However, the book reads as if the various chapters were scattered to wind and then those that were recovered were stitched together in approximately the right order with great stretches of the narrative gone. More than once I reacted to the disclosure of a date like "What?! its 1640? I though we were still talking about 1626!"

Well done Wedgwood!

The story of the thirty years war is immensely complex and hard to tell. It is also hard to keep the reader interested while delving deep into the religious, political and economic reasons and consequences of the conflict.
Wedgwood however manages to create a captivating narrative, weaving in descriptions of facinating characters, enviroments and ways of life which have no place in our modern society - while never forgetting to point out the horror and human depravation that followed the hordes of brigands which were the armies of these days.

I would recommend a basic knowledge of the reformation, the holy roman empire of the german nation and a map of 17th-century europe before you listen to this book.

Best History of Thirty Years War

ok, so there are not a lot of histories of the Thirty Years War but even if there were more, this would still be the best. excellently written, superbly read, it covers every aspect of the war from battles to politics even to post war demobilization. It provides a thorough understanding of the war in full context, filling in an oft mentioned but seldom explained period of history.

OK IF YOU UNDERSTAND LATIN FRENCH OR GERMAN.

Is there anything you would change about this book?

Have all French, German and Latin phrases translated into English.

Would you recommend The Thirty Years War to your friends? Why or why not?

no

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

yes

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

no it would take too long

Any additional comments?

for the committed only

Pretty good overview

I went in knowing next to nothing and came out knowing next to nothing. Kidding. I did learn quite a bit, if not the details. This was actually a pretty good book. It was a bit stilted. But the was there were so many people and places, it was really hard to keep track. If you don't know the area and don't have a sense of the players, it is really hard to follow.
I probably would have gotten more out of it if, instead of listening while on my walks, I listened with a map in front of me of the region at the time.

Phenomenal history.

The seminar history of the Thirty Years War. I don't know which is better, the prose or the narrator.

This is not easy listening. There are a large number of characters and each is described richly. I loved the eloquent language used. Very elegant writing.

The narrator adds wonderful color and inflection to the words. I think he might be the best narrator I've heard on audio book.

If you are a serious history buff, you must listen to this book. Understanding the Thirty Years War is key to understanding Germany and Europe in the past three centuries.

very good but with some notable bias

A very good look at the war. The author has some pretty clear nationalist and anti-protestant bias but the information is still useful if you can look through that or cross compare to other avaliable sources when the editorial notes get a bit indistinguishable from the history.