Juvenal-Juvenall-Juvenile: a family history. Danville, Illinois: Interstate, 1972. Out-of-print. [This began as a little project, but once I discovered that all Americans bearing this name trace their ancestors back to one Huguenot powdered wig manufacturer who fled to Philadelphia from the religious wars of late 17th century France, it led me as far as the American civil war and cattle droving. I intend to work on a new edition, starting in the fall of 2006. Contributions and updates are welcome.]

The Baltic Crusade is the story of the 13th century German and Scandinavian crusades to Livonia (modern Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Finland)

The Baltic Crusade. DeKalb, Illinois: Northern Illinois University Press, 1975. 2nd edition, revised and enlarged. Chicago: Lithuanian Research and Studies Center, 1994.

A selection from the preface to the 2nd edition.

Not yet out of print. Ignore what Amazon.com says. See publisher's website.

Also, this is html format. The print in the book looks normal.

IT HAS COME TO MY ATTENTION THAT NUMEROUS LIBRARIES STILL HAVE ONLY THE FIRST EDITION. SO MANY CHANGES HAVE BEEN MADE IN THIS AND OTHER EDITIONS OF MY BOOKS ON MEDIEVAL BALTIC HISTORY THAT THESE LIBRARIES SHOULD UPDATE THEIR HOLDINGS BY ACQUIRING THE MOST RECENT EDITIONS. PRICES HAVE BEEN KEPT LOW TO ENCOURAGE THIS.

The Livonian Rhymed Chronicle. Translation with Jerry C. Smith. Bloomington, Indiana: University of Indiana Publications, 1977. A paragraph from the Introduction That earlier edition is both out-of-print and outdated.

Completely revised and enlarged second edition Chicago: Lithuanian Research and Studies Center, 2001.[how to order below] Paperback.

A History of Monmouth College through its fifth quarter-century. With Mary Crow, Charles J. Speel, II, and Samuel Thompson. Monmouth, Illinois: Monmouth College, 1979. The opening paragraph of the Introduction Only a few copies left for sale. Contact the Monmouth College Bookstore (309-457-2399)

The Prussian Crusade. The second edition, enlarged and revised, is in print: Chicago: Lithuanian Research and Studies Center, 2000. [how to order below] Paperback.

If your library owns the primitive 1982 desk-top publishing edition, please replace it.

The Livonian Crusade. Excerpt from Chapter One [1st edition. 1981] 2nd, enlarged edition. Chicago: Lithuanian Research and Studies Center, 2004.

If your library owns the primitive 1981 desk-top publishing edition, do replace it.

See the bottom of this page for the webpage. This is the sequel to The Baltic Crusade. Summary

Narcissus and the Faceless Man, reflections on Individualism and Conformity. Monmouth: Monmouth College, 1984. Revised as a Sabbatical project in the spring of 2003.

The Chronicle of Balthasar Russow. Translation with Jerry C. Smith and Juergen Eichhoff. Madison: Wisconsin Baltic Studies Series, 1988. This sixteenth century chronicle is essential for anyone in Baltic Studies.

Kryžiaus karas Žemaitijoje (The Samogitian Crusade) was published in October of 2005 by The Science & Encyclopedia Publishing Institute, L. Asanaviciutes g. 23, LT-04315, Vilnius, Lithuania. Tel. +370 5 2431338, fax. +370 5 2458537
http://www.meli.lt/en.html

A look at an unusual and successful democratic republic in the far north of Germany, on the islands and shores of the North Sea. Dithmarschen succumbed to Danish forces only in 1557.

Salomon Henning's Chronicle, translation with Jerry C. Smith and J. Ward Jones. Madison: Wisconsin Baltic Studies Series, 1992. Hard and soft covers. This chronicle of Ivan the Terrible's invasion of Livonia and his eventual defeat describes the collapse of the Livonian Confederation, the dissolution of the Livonian Order, and the occupation of the land by Sweden and Poland. An important companion piece to Russow's Chronicle.

Out of print. Therefore, we offer the basic text, without maps or introduction. This is html format. The print in the book looks normal.

Part One: 1554-1562

Part Two 1562-1577

Part Three 1577-1590

The Independence of the Baltic States: Origins, Causes, and Consequences. A Comparison of the Critical Years 1918/1919 and 1990/1991. Edited with Eberhard Demm and Roger Noël. Chicago: Lithuanian Research and Studies Center, 1996. Introduction by Eberhard Demm

Translation of Johannes Renner's Chronicle with Jerry C. Smith and Ward Jones. Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen, 1997. Selection from the Introduction Another important chronicle of Ivan the Terrible's invasion of Livonia.

Tannenberg and After: Lithuania, Poland, and the Teutonic Order in Search of Immortality. 3rd edition. Chicago: Lithuanian Research and Studies Center, 2003. 535 pp.

Photo: John Rackauskas, President of the Lithuanian Research and Studies Center, William Urban, and Ricardas Spitrys, who printed the 535 page book. Holding the first copies of Tannenberg and After.

This book was selected by the U.S. Commission on Military History for inclusion in vol. 22 of the Bibliographie International d'Histoire Militaire.

This concluding volume of the series of crusading histories in the Baltic describes the fall and decline (that's right, no misprint) of the Teutonic Order and the rise of Poland-Lithuania to regional hegemony, 1398-1525.

A Lithuanian translation was published by the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences in February of 2004.

TO ORDER BOOKS published by the Lithuanian Research and Studies Center in Chicago, call (773) 434-4545 or write 5600 South Claremont Avenue, Chicago IL 60636-1039. Check out its WEBSITE.

WYATT EARP: The OK CORRAL AND THE LAW OF THE AMERICAN WEST (New York: Rosen, August 2003)

If you are looking for a birthday or Christmas gift for a middle school child, particularly if that child thinks history is dull, consider this.

The Teutonic Order, a military history (Greenhill, 2003) Greenhill Press is a prominent English publisher of reference books and monographs on military history. This has been a History Book Club selection since the spring of 2003, and on its best-seller list.

‘Urban brings an epic quality to the lives of the German crusaders, the hard men of Europe, whose military campaigns could rival those of the Templars.’ – Oxford Times

‘This clever and capable author writes a brilliant overview of 500 years of its political and military history. . . . The Teutonic Knights is a terrific book . . . Well-written, concise, and fast moving, you'll appreciate Urban’s efforts to highlight crusader action on the fringes of Christendom’
– Magweb (USA)

‘This narrative history of the Teutonic Order . . .fills an important gap in English writing on crusading history. Urban is a distinguished historian of the Christianization of the Baltic in the period between the twelfth and fourteenth centuries, and gives us a general history of the order and of the great process conversion in which it played such a major role. . . . Enlivened by Urban’s occasional acerbic remarks, as exemplified in his bibliography: “Some well-known works have been omitted because their only worth is for propaganda in disputes now long forgotten or for providing the author's income”.’
– History: The Journal of the Historical Association

W burzliwych czasach średniowiecza losy państw i narodów rozstrzygały się najczęściej na polach bitew, a czynnikiem decydującym o uzyskaniu i utrzymaniu władzy była siła oręża. Rycerstwo oraz złożone z ludzi niższego stanu lokalne oddziały pomocnicze przeważnie jednak nie zapewniały wystarczającej liczby wyćwiczonych w wojennym rzemiośle, sprawnych fizycznie i nielękających się walki żołnierzy. W takiej sytuacji sięgano po najemników. Popularna monografia znanego amerykańskiego historyka poświęcona jest dawnym "psom wojny", walczącym wyłącznie dla sutego żołdu i bogatych łupów. Wojownicy ci wywodzili się z różnych warstw społecznych. Najemnikami bywali zamożni arystokraci, chłopi, mieszczanie, a nawet duchowni. Wyróżniali się nadzwyczajną skutecznością i wytrwałością, cenili też nowe zdobycze techniki wojennej.

August 15, 2007. The Greenhill blurb:
From the Greek professional armies of Alexander, through the Hundred Years War, indeed, to today, mercenaries have been ever-present, their role constantly evolving. In this compelling new history William Urban takes up their captivating and turbulent story from 1550 to 1789: from the Wars of Religion to the eve of the French Revolution.

The 16th century saw increasing sophistication in European politics and commerce, religious and scientific thought, and military technology. Everywhere professionals became more important. Mercenaries are often considered a marginal phenomenon, but Urban shows that as military professionals they contributed significantly to the development of the modern state.

Increasingly not just individual soldiers and officers became mercenaries, but entire armies of well-equipped, well-trained, and, in time, experienced soldiers were available to friends and allies. By the late-1600s these armies had evolved into large and efficient fighting forces. The infantry were using muskets equipped with bayonets; the engineers were building better fortresses and devising better methods of assaulting them; the cavalry were adjusting to new tactics; the generals learning strategy from service under great field marshals and by reading their books; and everyone was paying attention to treasury officers. Nothing could be done without money. With money, anything was possible – buying cannons and the neutrality of neighbours, providing troops with food and clothing, satisfying fashion-conscious mistresses. For money, anything was possible.

By the mid-1700s military service had become a profession. The old-fashioned mercenary was less common, but he would not disappear until swept away by the volunteer armies of the French Revolution. Money gave way, temporarily, to patriotism.

Bayonets for Hire

Mercenaries at War, 1550–1789

William Urban and Foreword by William McNeill

Reviews:

‘Bayonets for Hire slashes into the sordid history of mercenaries in the Early Modern age. A fine addition to Urban’s previous books, his historic findings and narrative blend together for an exciting read’ - Jay Franco, Military Book Club (USA)

With Bayonets for Hire, William Urban, author of highly acclaimed book The Teutonic Knights, moves his focus from the Middle Ages to the years 1550-1789 (the Wars of Religion to the eve of the French Revolution) to provide a close analysis of his subject of expertise: the mercenary.
Urban begins in the mid-16th Century and the rise of the professional soldier, arguing that the mercenary had a greater impact on the success and subsequent development of the European military than commentators have acknowledged. As the decades passed, the practice of hiring individual soldiers evolved into that of hiring entire mercenary armies. By the dawn of the 18th Century, these armies were some of the most efficient fighting forces on the continent. The lesson learned? Money buys success. The wealthiest leaders could afford not only the best weapons and training but those equally important assets, as well—food, clothing and political influence. By the mid-18th Century, military service had become a profession.
Bayonets for Hire delves deeply into a fascinating and important subject. And in our opinion, there isn't a better man for the job than William Urban. Military Book Club (USA)

In Progress: Mercenaries in Europe and Beyond and Bayonets, Scimitars, Bayonets

Medieval Mercenaries

The Business of War

Bayonets for Hire

Mercenaries at War, 1550–1789