Striving for a balance of breadth and depth as well as global versus local, Helfferich brings into focus an astonishingly complex, clever, and accomplished woman, who was praised by the likes of Cardinal Richelieu himself. A mother of 12 children (eight of whom died), Amalia Elisabeth stepped squarely onto a larger stage when her husband, the regent of Hesse-Cassel, died in the middle of the Thirty Years War (1618-1648). She took his place in the face of much opposition in order to protect her children's patrimony and bring some semblance of security to their lives in a tumultuous time. The highly-educated and multilingual Amalia ruled her territory in exile for years with 20,000 troops at her disposal as she carried on her husband's legacy as well. Her impact at the time included such a strong defense of Calvinism that it effectively garnered Calvinism legitimacy as a religion along with Lutheranism. As a measure of her importance, when peace came, fifteen paragraphs of the treaties that ended the war addressed her issues, and her princedom was the only one given financial compensation as reparations. Interestingly, a survey in the 1960s of German villagers found that for many the Thirty Years War was the worst thing that ever happened to their village. Perhaps with Amalia as poster child, Helfferich posits the need to go beyond rational choice to understand the motivations for war, and suggests an analysis of politics and religion as well. There are eight black-and-white pictures of Amalia and other prominent personages, as well as two depictions of battles. The book is very well organized, coherent and readable. Annotation ©2013 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)