Emperor Maximilian I is the last knight. With his death the Middle Ages end and modern times begin. Martin Luther publishes his famous theses and the Reformation changes the Christian world. The emergence of two denominations eventually leads to the cruelest war that Germany has experienced until then. It is the Thirty Years' War that devastates entire tracts of land, in which settlements disappear from the map and the population is suffering from terror and hunger. With the end of the horror war Germany is a different country, a country of many independent small states. Thus also the Netherlands and Switzerland separate from Germany and become independent. Austria and Prussia are benefiting from small-scale state-building and are expanding. Prussia becomes next to Austria a German great power. Germany is repeatedly threatened by the Turks. In the year 1683 Germany should finally fall and become a Turkish Muslim country. The Turks are beaten before Vienna. Thereafter, the reconquest of the Balkans by Austrian troops begins. Austria becomes superpower. During this time, there are also domestic and military conflicts between Prussia and Austria. In these conflicts, Prussia finally comes out victorious. Poland is divided beween Russia, Prussia and Austria and disappears entirely from the map. French revolutionary troops are threatening Germany, occupy large areas and devastate the country. This book also covers the Renaissance, the Baroque period, the Rococo style and the Enlightenment, as well as Classicism and Mercantilism. You can also read something about famous personalities of that time, such as Goethe, Schiller and Mozart.

The period 1618-1648 was one of the most complex in European history. Religion interacted with rebellion and dynastic rivalry in a series of conflicts in central Europe known collectively as the Thirty Years War. This book guides the reader through the period by surveying the narrative of events and establishing the essential chronological framework. In addition Stephen Lee looks at such key issues as the motives of the participants, their gains and losses, as well as at the religious, military, social and economic aspects of the War. Each section in the book incorporates the most recent research.

"This book [was] written to counterbalance those accounts that see the [Thirty Years'] War as a parade of campaigns, battles, and states. The author shows people coping with the rigours of war. His book spans the range of human ingenuity, from the production of worldly goods to the most subtle products of human reason and unreason. The glory and misery of the Thirty Years' War lies spread before us"--Jacket