Lithuania Ascending
A Pagan Empire Within East-Central Europe, 1295-1345
by S. C. Rowell, Cambridge Studies in Medieval Life & Thought
I needed a little more background on my Teutonic and Lithuanian armies so I dove into this book. The period focused on is the rise of the Lithuanian Duchy and its growth under the grand dukes that lay the groundwork for the combination of Lithuania and Poland in the 15th Century. During this time, the Lithuanian Grand Dukes held their own and managed to expand against the Poles, Rus, Teutons, Swedes, Danes, Rigans, Hungarians, Bohemians, and Tatars. The Lithuanian Grand Dukes, particularly Gediminus played off Imperial vs. Rus interests, Catholic vs. Othodoxy, and grand duke against grand duke to further his own interests and maintain their pagan center of power in Lithuania.
Well written as various topics are explored but of course the source material is limited and focusing on a 50-year period, the information gets a bit repetitive at times but the author does highlight between what is written (be it corroborated or not) and what later historians assumed or interpreted.
https://www.amazon.com/Lithuania-Ascending-East-Central-1295-1345-Cambridge-dp-1107658764/dp/1107658764/ref=mt_paperback?_encoding=UTF8&me=&qid=
