by Jonathan Davies.
Softcover (7.1×9.8 inches). 364 pages. 2023.
Subtitle: The Conduct of War in the Reign of Elizabeth I
Subtitle: 1558-1603: The Elizabethan Army
This extensive look at Elizabeth I’s English Army in the last half of the 1500s. Command and Control lead off, followed by Training, Tactics, Recruitment, Provision, Weaponry, Armor, Equipment, and the status of the army within Elizabethan society. It covers the three major arms of infantry, artillery, and cavalry.
I came away with the impression that Elizabeth I was incredibly parsimonious and that translated into soldier poverty and extensive corruption. Desertion was a problem and companies were generally understrength, even after combining multiple companies into one.
One interesting point was the pikes blocks were supposed to 10 ranks deep, with three feet between files and six feet between ranks in “Order” and half the distance in “Close Order” (p103). The idea was that the first five ranks were to charge and the second five ranks were to keep the “first foremost ranks from retiring” (p101).
Recruitment was often from “the press” (roving officials impressing/conscripting men into service) and sometimes from jails.
Firearms were devastating within 50m (five hits of five shots evaluation), lethal at 80m (three hits of five shots), and decreasing in accuracy from that point on. Technically, maximum range was 900m, but anything over 550m was unlikely to penetrate (p296).
Typos: “needed to be pay” (p150) should be “paid”; “contacts not being properly fulfilled” (p193) should be “contracts”; and “would ave” (p199) should be “have”.
The book contains 53 black and white period woodcuts, 21 black and white photos, eight black and white photos, and eight color photos of Tudor re-enactors.
This is a marvelous addition to the Tudor Warre volumes and the From Retinue to Regiment series. Well done.
Enjoyed it.
— Reviewed by Russ Lockwood
