Osprey Publishing have an extensive range of books covering warfare from the ancient world through to modern day. Their texts are well written and adequately cover the subject matter. Each of the books also has between 6 and 10 lavish colour plates depicting the armies or battles. If I'm building an army, these are usually the first books I buy!

This work provides an introduction to the military and naval history of the years 1492 to 1792, covering the period from the European Renaissance to the revolutionary wars of the late 18th century. Detailed colour maps, battle plans and colour and black-and-white illustrations combine with the text to illuminate developments in warfare on both land and sea.

Fully revised and updated, this second edition provides a comprehensive guide to the causes of the English Civil War and events surrounding this crucial period of English history. Doesn't really go into the army organisations, but gives a good background ovf the war.

Historians have tried time and again to identify the central issues of the conflict which devastated Europe between 1618 and 1648. The Thirty Years War puts the religious and constitutional struggle in the Holy Roman Empire squarely back into the centre of events, coupled with the problems of war finance - these are shown to be an important key to the interaction between inter-state and domestic conflicts during the war.

Combining military history and the history of technology, the author of this work explores the history of gunpowder in Europe from the 13th to the 16th century. The "gunpowder revolution" is reassessed as an evolutionary process which transformed the European way of war and influenced statecraft.