The astute weeb will note that the author of this account, a 16th century knight with a prosthetic hand, serves as the inspiration for the protagonist of the manga Berserk. Any similarities stop there.

Gotz's account stands immediately before pivotal point in history: gunpowder will soon make knights obsolete and the reformation will soon lead to the wars of religion. The squabbles and feuds detailed here, however, prove mostly medieval, and the looming upending of societal structures are just barely coming into focus. Curiously, there is subtext strongly suggesting he became a protestant at some point. Mostly an apologia for his failures and slanders against him, it is a series of vignettes in which a chivalric code of honor and convoluted loyalties bleed through.

Moritz's translation wonderfully keeps all titles and names in the original German, lending a sense of place to the account in a field that otherwise Anglicizes them all. The presence of footnotes here, rather than endnotes, is likewise much appreciated, though one error at the end stating Kaiser Karl V led Imperial forces in the 30 years war makes me question the accuracy of the preceding footnotes I know less about.