OK, where are the other reviews? This is a good book, and people should be reading it. Urban examines roughly 1700 to 1770 and the role of mercenaries. But not exactly the idea of "mercenary" in the current version of hired killers. Mercenaries could be officers looking for experience or rewards--like John Paul Jones, American naval hero in Russian service (where intrigue sank his hopes). Like many Catholic Irish soldiering for France, they were more exiles making a living than professional soldiers; similarly poverty and lack of opportunity sent Scots all over Europe; and members of households of Stuart pretenders were in the mix. And some were professional killers.
Part of the idea is that professional armies were expensive to train and maintain, expensive tools and also deadly in use, so that war with other professionals was not something to do lightly. The size and professionalism of armies increased and so could no longer exist on plunder alone. There's more detail to his ideas, but whether you agree with him or not, the book has intriguing detail on a number of lesser-known wars, and is I would say best on the American Revolution, with "mercenaries" like Steuben and Lafayette. Much of the focus is on Britain and France, but it also discusses Hapsburgs, Ottomans, Russians, Germans, Dutch and more.
I found several chapters to be especially interesting. Chapter 2 looks at Christian Europe pressuring the Islamic world (and recall the second Ottoman siege of Vienna was 1688). Chapter 4, "Gunpowder Empires and Imperialism" starts with Babur, founder of the Indian Mughal state, and includes a fascinating discussion of Indian sepoys. Chapter 5 examines overlooked wars. Chapter 6, "Great and Small Conflicts at Midcentury" looks at several wars including the Seven Years War. The chapter "Hessians in America" is especially good--30,000 Germans, including 17,000 from Hesse-Kassel who were rented and shipped over to fight in the revolution, of whom 7,700 died, 4,800 decided to stay and 2,400 stayed taking land grants in Canada. That 30,000 combined with 60,000 redcoats and 55,000 American loyalists was the British force, fortunately for Washington's sake not all serving at the same time. There's also an excellent discussion of the French in India.
Here are some of my takeways from Urban's book. Military punishments were harsh but no more so than what civilians afoul of the law could expect. The Dutch East India Company employed 5,000 Europeans and 20,000 Asians from 1715 to 1719 (the point being that imperialism used native troops in larger numbers than Europeans). The history of the Marshal de Saxe is simply amazing. There are excellent and lively character sketches of many figures, among them Chesterfield, Casanova and Dr. Johnson.
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