Warrior of God: Jan Zizka and the Hussite Revolution - Hardcover

Verney, Victor

3.77

66 ratings by Goodreads

9781848325166: Warrior of God: Jan Zizka and the Hussite Revolution

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1848325169 ISBN 13: 9781848325166

Publisher: Frontline Books, 2009

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Jan Zizka (1370–1424) was a formidable figure whose life and military career was set amidst the whirlwind of monumental revolutions – military, religious, political and social – that engulfed medieval Europe in the 14th and 15th centuries. The leader of Bohemia's Hussite Revolution – the first of the religious wars during the Protestant Reformation – he was a forward-thinking military genius whose record is virtually unmatched.

He fielded a peasant militia, initially untrained and unequipped, and faced down the Holy Roman Empire’s huge professional army of armored knights known as ‘The Men of Iron’. Among his numerous innovations was the armored wagon fitted with small cannons and muskets, presaging the modern tank. All this, despite the fact that for much of his later career he went completely blind.

Yet remarkably, beyond central Europe, very little is known about him. In this original and engrossing study, historian Victor Verney combines an authoritative analysis with colorful anecdotes to reveal the incredible exploits of this forgotten military genius and the fascinating cast of characters who surrounded him.

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From the Author:

(to be continued)

From the Back Cover:

'Ye who are the warriors of GodAnd of His Law,Pray for God's helpso ye will with Him always remain victorious.' - Hussite battle song
Jan Zizka was one of the greatest military leaders of all time. At a time when the medeival world was being shaken to its core by political, social and religious revolutions, he emerged as a brilliant strategist and innovator, leading his Hussite armies with formidable boldness and skill. By the time of his death he had won 16 major engagements, numerous skirmishes and sieges. He never lost a single battle.
This compelling book expertly unravels the life of Zizka and the absorbing backdrop to his victories, bring to the fore the remarkable achievements of this little-nown military genius.
The front jacket illustration depicts Jan Zizka in a detail from The Battle of Grunwald by Jan Matejko (National Museum in Warsaw). This 1410 battle between the Teutonic knights and the combined forces of Poland and Lithuania was an epochal event, arguably the largest battle of the Middle Ages. Matejko took numerous artistic liberties with the historical facts (including Jan Zizka's role) striving to inspire his fellow Poles to resist Bismark's intensified Germanization programme following the Partition of Poland during the eighteenth century.

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