An interesting read; it deals with the Condottieri in Renaissance Italy. More or less biographical sketches of various condottieri in historical order, starting with Roger di Flor of the Catalan Company and ending with Giovanni delle Bande Nere (known as the last condottiere). Somewhat dated (it was originally published in 1971) and unashamedly populist, it misses more recent scholarship, but is a nice, accessible read.

Recommended. It's also a good book to dip into a chapter at a time.

I was very pleasantly suprised by this book. It was a very good, entertaining book and above all informative. I've read several on the subject and would have to rate this one the overall best.
This book was the first that I've read that went into great deal about the Great Company and how it was formed. Most other books mention it and get into the comings and goings of it's characters a little bit, but this one really took an effort at explaining it's origins and it's actions.
Around a 3rd of the book was about Hawkwood alone, which did not bother me at all seeing how he is one of the more interesting figures of the time in my opinion. Mr. Trease covered Hawkwood more thoroughly than some biographies on the English mercenary.
This book gives a good account of some of the practical issues that would arise for the common mercenary foot-soldier as well, something that is passed over in most books. Issues such as arming himself, and what to do with spare equipment, are paid handsome attention.
And refreshingly enough, I did not have to trudge through a long chapter about how the condotta system was able to flourish amongst the Italian states unlike anywhere else in Europe. Call me a salty dog on the subject but pouring over the same old speculation does get old.
To wrap, this is really a very good book. Mr. Trease has a very entertaining and easy gait to his writing and has included many interesting and RELEVANT illustrations within the pages. I highly recommend it. ( )