Marlborough: England's Fragile Genius

Historian Richard Holmes,the writer of a biography of the duke of Wellington, also took on the task of recounting the life of the other great British general, John Churchill, the duke of Marlborough. The fact that Marlborough's famous descendant, Winston S. Churchill, published a six-volume account of the duke in the 1930s was probably intimidating. However, Holmes has done a fine job. Churchill tended to give his ancestor quite a bit of leeway in his slippery dealing with the Jacobites and in his pursuit of money and honors. Holmes points out cases of the duke's dubious conduct but also praises his outstanding service as a general and credits him with enduring the tantrums of his tempestuous wife Sarah. I have read a condensed but still massive version of Churchill's opus and a short illustrated biography by Correli Barnett. Holmes has written a more accessible book than Sir Winston, but at times I found his battle accounts a little confusing. However, if you are going to read just one book about Marlborough, this one is a fine choice.

It has to be taken in account that this book is plain history, but not a novel, like the Saxon tales.The text is well written and leads the reader forward with keen interest. The annals describes very well the devious politics of the time, two invasions of Britain and changes of kings and queens.And the necessity to be in favor of the royal house and on the right side of parliamentary power.The accord revels the quick tempered wife, Sarah, her fortune and misfortune in favor and the diplomatic qualities of John Churchill to be on the right side of political trends, though the couple had to face disgrace for a time.The center peace of the history is the nine years war which during the time The Duke was Captain General of the allied forces. This war was a classical power struggle to hinder that no state could be so strong that it could control other states, unfortunately this is a constant and perpetual problem and my contemporaries lived the Cold War and now Russia-Nato Ukraine crises.It should be noted that the Duke had an exceptional comrade in arms, The Prince Eugene of Savoy.It is quite possible that we may thank the Prince that we Europeans where not converted to Islam.The Prince was commander of the battle of Zenta in 1697 and the battle of Belgrade in 1717. Bothe battles where disaster for the Ottomans Turks and has kept them back to this day, but the possible Novo Sultan should be observed.One thing in this story is extraordinary, or the struggle of Churchill and Sarah to build for themselves an eternal monument which is Blenheim Castle, but the Castle got it time as The Captain General of Britain’s finest hour was born in the Castle on 30th of November 1870.Elías Kristjánsson

Good informative book on Marlborough. Probably the best.

Some call him the UK's greatest general despite bribery and treason. If you want to know why, please read this sterling biography.

As can be expected from this Author, you will get a Top Drawer bio about one of England's Best field generals. It is packed with interesting facts and a lively pace. I most highly recommend this book!

Having read Chirchill's biography of Marlborough previously made me hard to impress. But I am enjoying none the less. Hence two stars.

For the Reader: Depending on your objective.If you want to know who Marlborough was and what his military actions and political involvements were - Read David Chandler's Marlborough a Military Commander. The book covers the Political and social interactions of the person very well.Holmes makes write a comment about Chandler reducing Marlborough to just a military person - is wrong.The reason why this is important : If an author belittles another author incorrectly - you wonder about did he even read the material.If the Reader wants to know 38 pages of what the times were like, none to do with Marlborough, about where and how he may of been born and all the people involved with each other, etc. etc.In other words, this may be a very interesting book. If you like reading about many details and an authors flippant remarks and weak attempts at relating the book items to other topics, as well and endless array of quotes from books the author has read.Then you will find this a good read.

Enough said. I enjoyed the read and learned a lot about a lot, but at the end I still could not understand why he stuck with that shrew of a wife, Sarah. But then Wellington stuck with Kitty although she was a liability so maybe it was something in the water. We have it on fairly good authority that Wellington was not totally faithful to his wife and it is suspected that Marlborough also was not, but this side of his character is never really explored. Maybe this is because Richard Holmes is more comfortable with the military machinations than the civil conflicts. A lot more on some of the fascinating characters who move in and out of the book would also have been interesting. Marlborough was operating in a European theatre with an allied army, but we never got to know the other allied commanders well, or the Bavarians who joined forces with the French. On the oter hand the pressures on Louis and his relationships with his ministers of war and his marshals were fairly well handled. On the whole I enjoyed the book and devoured it because there are so few really good biographies of great Englishmen.

Marlborough, England's Fragile Genius by Richard Holmes is a very good book about arguably Britian's finest general. It is a well-written book with a good pace and a clear narrative which makes it a very enjoyable read. Although as you would expect the military exploits of Marlborough are the dominant part of the book it is not wholly about his career on the battlefield. Indeed it also deals with his private and political career and is actually an interesting account of the wider time period of the Civil War to the Hanoverian succession. The only slight flaw is I believe the opening chapter which sets the scene and in my opinion is a little too long and detailed for its purpose. Overall though it is a very enjoyable read and a very good book.

I can watch Richard Holmes on the TV but I found this book quite a slog to get through. I wish I wasn't saying that because I do read a lot of history books and wanted to enjoy this more. I do find some history books are so full of life and stories that they read like a fast paced novel but this wasn't one of those... I did learn a lot though and in a year or so may pick it up. I sometimes find a second reading really helps as a reminder and chance to embed.

I bought this book for some background reading on Ramillies and Oudenarde and found that I was hooked from the start by Professor Holmes' engaging style of writing. 500 pages of political intrigue, scandal and military campaining from Sedgemoor to Malplaquet.The only fault in the book was that all the illustrations were very badly washed out (they've printed like very poor quality dark photocopys) and the maps would have benefited from being reproduced in colour.

Pretty dry read this and not up to Holmes' usual standard. I didn't get a sense of tactics, strategy or even the reason for the war and an awful lot of it is concerned with what Lady Marlborough did in the privy wardrobe or whatever.

Book was described as very good but the item was discoloured brown on the page edges.which was not liked by the person this was given to as a gift

Very good account of the life of the greatest British war leader. He never lost a battle. Was Winston Churchill's ancestor. The things he developed over his career of fighting the French in Europe is astonishing.

Easy to read and thoroughly addictive. A well told account of the life of a fascinating man.

very good book and condition.

Both an informative, authorative and highly readable biography.Holmes paints a picture of an ambitious and capable General as well as a cunning politician and loving husband.Highly recommended.

Efficient,promt,exactly as advertisied others could learn something, highly recommendable. Thank you.

Principally a history book, but also an enjoyable read. The story of one of our greatest men in our history.

After a slow start and in my opinion, a slightly boring beginning, the late Richard Holmes biography on Marlborough improved and the description of the four major battles when he was in command were well written.

A man I knew little of but having been to Blenheim palace wanted to know more about the man. This did the trick and a good read with it.

I just loved this book. Informative, Easy to read and compulsive. I learned so much. Richard Holmes is fabulous. One criticism was the introduction is really long