Mercenaries Book

I really enjoyed reading this book. This was a great academic presentation and analysis of Russian military doctrine up to and including World War I. It has very interesting narratives of several of the major wars that it fought from the 17th through early 20 centuries. It also has great intro and conclusion chapters to put everything into perspective and add some analysis to the information. I knew absolutely nothing of Russian history before I read this, and this book really taught me alot.

The one area I felt was somewhat lacking about this book was sufficient historical context to understand the events. The history of Russian military doctrine is interwoven both with the domestic social and political factors, and with the events of neighboring Europe. I am knowledgeable enough to understand the major European events, such as the French Revolution, Napoleon's wars, and the assassination that sparked World War I. However, my knowledge of Russian internal politics and social movements was somewhat lacking. I ended up doing some side research to better understand the contents of the book. I just felt that the authors could have included some more context.

Overall, this was a great book. I can't wait to read the sequel, Military History of the Soviet Union.