This book is a long-term study of organisational capabilities as parts of early modern state formation. Sweden was a largely non-maritime society which nevertheless maintained a large navy as part of the armed forces which created a Baltic empire. Many of the resources came from the peasant society which was exploited in an entrepreneurial fashion by a highly ambitious dynasty. For a long time Sweden was organisationally more advanced than its neighbours but the empire ceased to grow and finally collapsed when other Northern powers developed strong states. The book provides detailed information about the strength of the navy in terms of warships, equipment, guns and men and it relates changes in size and structure to changes in policy.

Associate editor: Helene Basu, Angelika Malinar, Vasudha Narayanan