From Pavia to Rocroi

Albi de la Cuesta, Julio. De Pavía a Rocroi: los tercios de infantería española en los siglos XVI y XVII. [Madrid]: Balkan Ediciones, 1999.

A very interesting examination of the Spanish tercio from many different standpoints. I haven't had a chance to do more than skim it, but I've already found it quite useful in some respects. The table of contents is posted, so that you can get an idea of the author's coverage of the subject. The glossary particularly, though spare, is useful. There are no footnotes, and the bibliography is keyed to the chapters (not necessarily helpful, but it does at least give an idea of the foundation of the author's thoughts).

The Road to Rocroi

González de León, Fernando. The Road to Rocroi: Class, Culture, and Command in the Spanish Army of Flanders, 1567-1659. Leiden: Brill, 2009.

This is a remarkable book which may be said to have advanced the several analyses of the myriad problems of the Spanish Army of Flanders that have marked the works of Parker and others.

Personally, I used the work to provide many biographical details on the officers associated with the army, as a primer on the professional military literature of the late 16th-early 17th centuries, and as yet another – in this case very full – narrative and analysis of the decisive Battle of Rocroi (1643), which of course is seen as marking the end of Spanish military ascendancy in Europe.