Previous Polish experience from the war against Ottoman Turks in 1672-1676 made their contribution vital for coalition war effort in 1683. No surprise then, that Sobieski was chosen as commander of joint forces and that Poles deployed on ancient place of honor in army battle order
on the right wing. Many Polish researchers, like Jan Wimmer, Leszek Podhorodecki or Zdzislaw Zygulski Junior (to name just few), wrote extensively about the topic, unfortunately their works are not available in English. In this volume author attempts to present to English-speaking readers Polish point of view on the battle and the role of Polish army in the conflict. There are detailed information about organization and strength of the army that Jan III led to Vienna: structure, weapons and equipment of the units, even on the company level. All formations, from winged hussars to artillery, are covered. Command staff
from King to high ranking officers
will be presented as well. Book won’t focus solely on relief of Vienna though. Remaining actions of the 1683’s campaign are described as well, with both battles of Parkany and arrival of Lithuanian army, Polish and Cossack actions in Podolia and Moldavia, that were always in shadow of main events of 1683; finally organisation and military actions of troops under command of Hieronim Augustyn Lubomirski, raised as Imperial auxiliary division in Poland. Book is based on many primary and secondary sources, including diaries, letters and surviving muster rolls of the units and whole army. Many of them were not previously available in English, so they will provides interesting insight into 17th century view of the army and campaign. AUTHOR: Michal Paradowski is independent Polish researcher, living in Scotland. While interested in both 16th and 17th century warfare, his main field of study are Polish-Swedish wars waged between 1621 and 1635. He published historical articles in Polish, English, Russian and French; also, a book (in Polish) ‘Studies and Materials regarding wars against Sweden 1600-1635’ (NapoleonV, 2013). His first contribution for ‘Century of the Soldier’ series was paper ‘Aston, Butler and Murray - British Officers in the Service of Polish Vasa Kings 1621-1634’, published as a part of ‘Britain turned Germany’ (Helion & Company, 2019), In his spare time he works as historical editor for Polish publishing house NapoleonV and historical consultant for ‘By Fire and Sword’ miniature game produced by Wargamer Games Studio Ltd.
89 b/w ills, 16 b/w photos, 8pp colour plates, 6 maps, 50 tables
