By Christopher Miskimon

The Teutonic Knights were a military order dedicated to spreading Christendom into Russia and the Baltic region. Over time, they spread their span of control across the area–until they encountered the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, a cohesive nation able to effectively resist the Teutonic Order. Over time they fought a number of battles, including Voplaukis (1311), where a Lithuanian raiding party was defeated by a Teutonic force. Later, at Kaunas (1362), there was a siege of Lithuania’s first brick-built castle. Lastly, at Grunwald (1410), a combined Polish-Lithuanian army defeated the Teutonic Knights, a loss from which the Teutons would never fully recover.

This book compares the organization, weapons, logistics, leadership and tactics of these two military forces and effectively shows how they matched up in three of their major battles. The author is an expert on Russia and this region’s history and this is evident in the level of detail in the writing. The book exhibits all the strengths of this publisher: good maps, original artwork and excellent overall illustration.

Teutonic Knight Versus Lithuanian Warrior: The Lithuanian Crusade 1283– 1435 (Mark Galeotti, Osprey Publishing, Oxford UK, 2023, 80pp., maps, photographs, bibliography, index, $23, softcover)

More Military History Book Reviews for Summer 2023