SOLDIERS' CLOTHING OF THE EARLY 17TH CENTURY: Britain and Western Europe 1618-1660

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The first part examines individual items of clothing and how fashion changed over the years, as well as the contracts granted to merchant suppliers, abuses by some merchants, and the corruption of the officers at soldiers' expense. Some soldiers were so poor that they had to sell their clothing to survive. It was also part of the humiliation of a prisoner of war to be stripped of his clothing. Also investigates the supply system of these clothes, which could further lead to corruption, and how clothes were transported and distributed to the armies.

The second part looks at the clothing of the various Parliamentary and Royalist Armies, the army sent to Ireland during the 1640s, and the Scottish Armies during the Bishops' and Civil Wars. Also attempts to solve the often-asked question of whether the trained bands were issued with clothing.

Finally, there is an examination of clothing issued to the armies of Denmark, the Dutch Republic, France, the Holy Roman Empire, Spain, and Sweden. Since soldiers' clothing did not begin at the start of the Thirty Years War, in these chapters, the author looks at the issue of clothing from the turn of the century, if not before.