The Thirty Years War, a religious conflict between Catholics and Protestants, raged across Europe between 1618 and 1648, devastating huge areas of Germany. By 1632 the Protestant powers were in a desperate situation until King Gustavus Adolphus II of Sweden, 'the Lion of the North', came to their rescue. This book describes how, having smashed one of the two main Catholic armies, he faced the other at Lützen near Leipzig in November 1632. In a nightmare battle fought in thick fog, his Swedish troops locked horns with the Imperial army. It was a bloody clash, in which Gustavus himself demonstrated true courage at the head of his cavalry - and one for which he would pay the ultimate price.