I was really looking forward to this - mainly as I know very little about the Thirty Years War despite reading a lot of historical non-fiction and fiction. The size of the book, some 530 pages, was inviting (font size was good). It started well. We're introduced to Jack Fiskcado, a young lad with an unknown background trying to live as well he can in the early 1600s in Amsterdam. Then we're introduced to more characters, and it all becomes a bit crowded. I'm not sure going back in time twice, in the first two parts of the book, really helped. I lost my way, and have to confess I gave up, which is something I really hate doing. It is well written. J C Harvey has researched this era extremely well, and it's an intelligent historical saga. This is the first of a trilogy - we're only dipping a toe into the Thirty Years War. Perhaps, for me, this wasn't the right moment to read this. It's the kind of novel you have to take time with. One day I'll ty again.