From Vasa spies to smartphones at war – summer reading from the Swedish Defence University

The Business of War in the Early Modern Baltic Sea Region, 1530–1765, eds: Jaakko Björklund, Sebastian Schiavone, Steve Murdoch and Anu Lahtinen

Wars in early modern Europe were fought not only on battlefields; they were also organised, financed and supplied through extensive commercial networks. This anthology focuses on how this “economy of war” developed in the Baltic region between 1530 and 1765.

“The anthology examines how fiscal-military systems and military markets developed across Northern Europe over three centuries”, says Steve Murdoch, professor of military history at the Swedish Defence University, and one of the editors and contributors to the volume.

More about the book, which can be downloaded free of charge with open access: War, trade and power in the Early Modern period

Spying for the Early Vasas – Intelligence in Sixteenth-Century Sweden by Martin Neuding Skoog, Senior Lecturer in Military History

The book describes how intelligence activities became a central part of Swedish state-building as early as the sixteenth century. Through networks of spies, diplomats, merchants, soldiers, priests and peasants, the state gathered information on military threats, political plans and developments abroad.

“The research shows that the Swedish state conducted systematic and strategic intelligence activities already during the Vasa period, despite Sweden then being a relatively small and peripheral state in Europe”, says Martin Neuding Skoog.

More about the book, which can be downloaded free of charge: Sweden had extensive intelligence networks as early as the sixteenth century

Fractured Lives by Nino Tabeshadze, Researcher in Leadership and Command & Control

The book explores how war trauma continues long after the fighting has ended. Focusing on Georgia and Ukraine, Nino Tabeshadze shows how trauma shapes individual lives, societies and national identity across generations.

“War’s human consequences are often overshadowed. I wanted to understand what happens afterwards, when everyday life has to continue”, says Nino Tabeshadze.

More about the book: What happens after the war? On trauma, memory and resilience in Ukraine and Georgia

The Baltic Sea – A Geopolitical History, ed. Peter Haldén, Associate Professor in War Studies

For centuries, the Baltic Sea has been an arena for both conflict and cooperation. This new anthology shows how the sea has shaped – and continues to shape – political, economic and strategic relations between the countries of Northern Europe.

“Understanding a sea is a way of understanding the relations between the states surrounding it. The Baltic Sea has always been both a boundary and a bridge, a place where cultures, ideas, and strategic interests meet,” says Peter Haldén.

More about the book: The geopolitical history of the Baltic Sea in a new light

War in the Smartphone Age by Matthew Ford, Senior Lecturer in War Studies

Through our mobile phones, war is constantly present – in our pockets, shared on social media and played out on screens around the world. The book explains how what we see on our phones not only shapes how we understand war, but also how war itself is fought.

“Smartphones are potential weapons. They blur the boundaries between war and daily life. Apps and platforms don’t just tell the story of conflict, they can directly shape military operations,”says Matthew Ford.

More about the book: How smartphones are changing the reality of war

Non-Military Warfare – A War of Our Time, eds. Oskar Jonsson and Ilmari Käihkö

The anthology analyses various aspects of non-military warfare, including its relationship to conventional warfare and how states can understand and counter forms of non-military warfare such as information influence operations and cyberattacks.

“Non-military warfare has become a cost-effective way for states to achieve political objectives, but also a means to undermine opponents without firing a shot,” says Oscar Jonsson, researcher in War Studies at the Swedish Defence University and one of the book’s editors.

More about the book: When war is no longer fought only with weapons