Covers Swedish history from Gustavus Vasa through the life of Gustavus Adolphus in the 17th century. Also covers the war between Poland and Sweden, and the origin and first years of the Thirty Years' War.

Gustavus Adolphus (1594-l632, king of Sweden 1611-1632) was one of the dominant figures of the early seventeenth century. He made Sweden the leading power of Northern Europe; was the champion of the northern Protestant cause in the Thirty Years War; and was a great administrator as well as a brilliant soldier, whose reforms helped define the development of the modern state. His dazzling career, brought to a premature end on the battlefield of Lutzen...