Captain Alatriste by Arturo Perez-Reverte

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Another chapter in what is really going to be a fine book someday. The odd part is that this book takes place far from the intrigues we know, in the muddy fields of Holland where the Spanish armies are struggling to hold on to Spain's possessions ( A chapter of history I was unaware of)
It's basically a war diary of Inigo's time in Holland. It vividly depicts the conditions and struggles and lack of pay the Spanish army faced. There aren't a lot of twists and turns. Everybody is suitably heroic. I think these books are really going to pay off when I sit down and read all ten or twelve or however many there are back to back.

But they do talk about a picture and I've added it here for your edification.