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30 years war

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Kveto from Prague
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30 years war

Post by Kveto from Prague » Wed December 31st, 2008, 12:14 am

i just realized something. Ive never read any HF (good or otherwise) on the thirty years war. its kind of embarrassing considering I can see where it started from my window. Maybe I should be defenstrated.

Ill check out margarets site. anybody got any suggestions for me?

thnx,
Keny

Ash
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Post by Ash » Wed December 31st, 2008, 12:40 am

I know I've read about it many times in various books of the time period its set in, but in the background. I suspect there must be some about the war itself.


aHa, here is a thread from the Amazon HF forum that might be helpful

http://www.amazon.com/tag/historical%20 ... tagsDetail
Last edited by Ash on Wed December 31st, 2008, 12:43 am, edited 1 time in total.

annis
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Post by annis » Wed December 31st, 2008, 3:00 am

Ash, I just have to add a quote here from the book "Non Campus Mentis", a collection of students' history exam answers, which I've just mentioned on the Anguished English thread:
"The Thirty Years War began with the Defecation of Prague"

*Edit- in compensation I'll add another title. There were several books about the Thirty Years War written in the past, but most are no longer available. Here is one which has been reprinted in recent times (originally published 1875):
"Rollo Grant, or the Scottish Musketeers", by James Grant
<Mainly a tale of the Scots in Denmark 1626-7 (time of Christian IV of Denmark and the Thirty Years War). Covers much fighting including the Bombardment of Kiel and the Siege of Stralsund. King Christian IV and Tilly feature frequently, and Wallenstein puts in an appearance.>
Last edited by annis on Wed December 31st, 2008, 7:27 am, edited 4 times in total.

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Margaret
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Post by Margaret » Wed December 31st, 2008, 6:33 am

The Thirty Years War began with the Defecation of Prague
What's the acronym - ROTFLMAO? For anyone mystified by this reference, the historical event was actually the Defenestration at Prague, which is almost as funny (unless you were personally involved, I suppose). None of the people thrown out the window was hurt, as there was a large heap of ... I hope I'm not making this up, but I'm pretty sure it was a heap of manure (mixed with straw probably, for later use as compost on the fields), which broke everyone's fall.

Sadly, I have not yet read any good fiction about the Thirty Years War, although there are some books listed at HistoricalNovels.info that I haven't read yet. I might speculate that modern writers tend to be so obsessed with the Nazi period (which admittedly provides highly dramatic and complex fodder for novelists to work with) that other periods of German history get short shrift.

A quite skillful novel about that general time period (though not really about the war) is John Banfield's Kepler. The organization of much of the latter part of the novel is a little weird (consisting of letters that run in backwards chronological order), but the portrayals of the characters and time period are absolutely brilliant.
Browse over 5000 historical novel listings (probably well over 5000 by now, but I haven't re-counted lately) and over 700 reviews at www.HistoricalNovels.info

annis
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Post by annis » Wed December 31st, 2008, 7:36 am

Posted by Margaret
None of the people thrown out the window was hurt, as there was a large heap of ... I hope I'm not making this up, but I'm pretty sure it was a heap of manure (mixed with straw probably, for later use as compost on the fields), which broke everyone's fall.
LOL - the unfortunate student sort of got it right!


Brian Deming's novel "Wind Time, Wolf Tme", features the Defenestration and also the famous incident whereby the young Prince Rupert of the Rhine was almost left behind when the royal family fled Bohemia for the Netherlands. He was only accidentally saved by a servant who threw the swaddled baby into a carriage, thinking he was a bundle of clothes. I certainly learnt a lot about Continental European politics of the time from reading this story.
Review here- scroll down a bit.
http://www.historicalnovelsociety.org/h ... g-2006.htm
Last edited by annis on Wed December 31st, 2008, 7:46 am, edited 4 times in total.

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Kveto from Prague
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Post by Kveto from Prague » Wed December 31st, 2008, 9:34 am

[quote=""annis""]Posted by Margaret

LOL - the unfortunate student sort of got it right!


Brian Deming's novel "Wind Time, Wolf Tme", features the Defenestration and also the famous incident whereby the young Prince Rupert of the Rhine was almost left behind when the royal family fled Bohemia for the Netherlands. He was only accidentally saved by a servant who threw the swaddled baby into a carriage, thinking he was a bundle of clothes. I certainly learnt a lot about Continental European politics of the time from reading this story.
Review here- scroll down a bit.
http://www.historicalnovelsociety.org/h ... g-2006.htm[/quote]

just to add to the defenstration. i saw a excellent wall painting in suth bohemia explaing the "miracle" of the defenstration. it was a large geometrical explanation for why the ministers survived and showed them bouncing off a certain saint, being slowed by the wings of angles and cushion by the breath of god and so forth. i guess the "miracle" of a big pile of excrement wasnt romantic enough.

i do understand why the 30 years war has been neglected by hf writers. it was the worst war in europe till the 20th century and also involves a confusing blend of politics that a modern reader might find mindbending.

anyway, thanks for the help. i do have "sun over breda" sitting on my shelf. its the third book in a series so i havent read it yet as i havent got the second, but i reckon at some point ill just say "chuck it" and read it.

Ash
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Post by Ash » Wed December 31st, 2008, 2:55 pm

Huh, what happened to my post? Anyway, sorry Margaret - the acronym is rolling on the floor laughing my ass off . Much easier to type ROTFLMAO, and more fun :) Now back to the topic.....

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donroc
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Post by donroc » Wed December 31st, 2008, 3:15 pm

I mention the 30 years war often and it is always in the background in my still not available novel, Rocamora, which is set during the years 1617-1643. I included the political machinations behind the Prince of Wales' courtship of Infanta María, the battle at Nördlingen, devastation and plague in the Germanies, and Spain's loss of Rousillon to the French.


By the way, there was a second defenestration in Prague in 1947.
Image

Bodo the Apostate, a novel set during the reign of Louis the Pious and end of the Carolingian Empire.

http://www.donaldmichaelplatt.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXZthhY6 ... annel_page

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Kveto from Prague
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Post by Kveto from Prague » Wed December 31st, 2008, 5:32 pm

[quote=""donroc""]I mention the 30 years war often and it is always in the background in my still not available novel, Rocamora, which is set during the years 1617-1643. I included the political machinations behind the Prince of Wales' courtship of Infanta María, the battle at Nördlingen, devastation and plague in the Germanies, and Spain's loss of Rousillon to the French.


By the way, there was a second defenestration in Prague in 1947.[/quote]

actually, the 1618 one was the second defenstration. the first (according to accepted czech history) was in 1419(?). Another religeous one, basically instigated the crusades to Bohemia and the Hussite wars.

In 1947. It was the son of our first president, chucked out of his own window, most likely by communist agents (from the soviet union) but this has never been proven, but seems likely.

there have been several others. what can i say? My countrymen apparently like chucking people out of windows.

on that note, happy new year :-)

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Jack
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Post by Jack » Sat July 4th, 2009, 7:34 pm

KEY OF GOLD by Lawrence Schoonover deals with the war in part of the multigenerational plot. As for NF see Geoffrey Parker. He's the man on this subject as far as I've been exposed to. Any one else out there I should consult? DonRoc???

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