Il libro illustra come il corridoio strategico, che univa la Spagna alle Fiandre, costituito da territori apparteneti all’Impero Spagnolo e corrispondenti agli attuali Belgio e Olanda, sia stato concepito, progettato, realizzato, difeso e infine smantellato. Gli eventi del “Cammino Spagnolo” sono ben noti grazie all’importante volume del professor Goeffrey Parker “The Army of Flanders and Spanish Road, 1576-1659”. Nondimeno, pur in presenza di questo irrinunciabile studio, non tutta la materia è totalmente indagata e ben nota, soprattutto in merito al settore cruciale del tratto italiano del cammino. In questo lavoro l’autore vuole riferire non solo come un’armata si organizzasse nel passaggio da una destinazione all’altra, ma anche quale itinerario si scegliesse e come sia stato obbliterato dagli avversari della Spagna o da ostacoli naturali. Per descrivere questo processo storico l’autore ha coinvolto non soltanto l’esame delle fonti storiche e storiografiche, ma anche un importante strumento della moderna ricerca, la Conflict Archaeology, ovvero l’Archeologia Militare.

This book describes how the strategic corridor that united Spain with Flanders (a territory belonging to the Spanish Empire, in what is today Belgium and the Netherlands), was conceived, designed, constructed, defended and dismantled. The events associated with the ‘Spanish Road’ are well known, thanks to the most important work on the subject, The Army of Flanders and Spanish Road, 1576-1659 by Professor Geoffrey Parker. However, despite this impressive study, not all of its history is perfectly clear and well understood, especially as relates to the crucial Italian sector. In this work, the author describes not only the way in which an army set off from one destination to another, but also how one route was chosen, and how it was cleared of opponents and of natural obstacles. To describe this process, the author calls not only on the historical and historiographical sources, but also on Conflict Archaeology, today a remarkable instrument of study.

AUTHOR
Giovanni Cerino Badone è professore aggiunto di Storia Moderna presso l'Università del Piemonte Orientale "Amedeo Avogadro" e di Storia Militare presso la Scuola d'Applicazione d'Arma di Torino per Ufficiali dell’Esercito Italiano.

Giovanni Cerino Badone is Adjunct Professor of Modern History at the University of Eastern Piedmont 'Amedeo Avogadro' and Professor of Military History at the Scuola d’Applicazione d'Arma for officers of the Italian Army in Turin.

REVIEWS
‘This work not only fills a gap, showing the connections between military-strategic needs and trade flows between the North Sea and the Mediterranean and their influence on the history of North-West Italy, but contributes to cross-fertilization between disciplines that unfortunately tend to ignore each other.’ Prof. Virgilio Ilari, Italian Society of Military History

‘I can think of no title that comes close to the work here, in any language. … This is an important subject, and the author’s work on the strategic interest of the Spanish Road through the Alps is the best in my experience.’ Prof. Gregory Hanlon, Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia

‘The author combines a brilliant re-reading of a number of historiographies (on the Italian Wars, on the Savoyard Duchy, on the Thirty Years' War) with an effective use of surface archaeology to read the practice of war in the “iron century”.’ Peer reviewer