Battle for Europe: How the Duke of Marlborough Masterminded the Defeat of France at Blenheim

The value of Spencer's Battle for Europe is in making the personality of Marlborough and the story of Blenheim accessible to the non-professional military history enthusiast. That's especially important here in the U.S., where outside of academia little is known or appreciated about the era of Louis XIV and his wars. Like Lee, Marlborough reaches his peak in his fifties, old for a great general to do so. Like Scipio, his achievements stir petty jealousies and lead to intrigues that smear his reputation. Like Napoleon, he marches energetically and gives battle in textbook style: freezing the enemy's attention on fixed points, and just when the time is right, the decisive breakthrough. All these things Spencer relates clearly and concisely. He can be forgiven for not turning over any new ground in Marlborough scholarship.

Other reviewers have noted that this is a well-written book, and it is. Having recently finished Winston Spencer Churchill's much longer life of Marlborough, it seemed to me that Mr. Spencer relied heavily on Winston Churchill's prior work for facts, and sources. However, this may be unfair since both Mr. Spencer and Mr. Winston Churchill meticulously mined and primarily relied on the private material at Blenheim Castle, and as long as both of them are honest and through, it would be more surprising if their tales differed, rather than the reverse. Mr. Spencer does not feel as great a need as Mr. Winston Churchill did to defend the reputation of his famous forebear. These slights of earlier, also partisan, writers have in general stood neither the test of time, nor in particular, the exquisitely detailed, point-by-point, refutation contained in Mr. Winston Churchill's biography of the same man. If you have been a very active general, and John Churchill was very active. If you have repeatedly fought the best generals and best armies of your time, and, John Churchill fought them all except his friend and fellow genius Prince Eugene of Savoy. And nonetheless, your biographer can still say that you never fought a battle that you did not win, nor besieged a town that you did not take, then you are indeed a Great Captain and leader of men. The Duke of Marlborough was this and much more. Unfortunately we do not get to see the "much more" in this book. As the title indicates this is a retelling of the story of a great, complex and important battle. Blenheim was not just murder by the thousands. Like the Greatest Generation, John Churchill, the Duke of Marlborough, accomplished something truly important with his victories, and particularly with this victory. Unlike Alexander who's empire immediately disintegrated upon his death, the political results achieved by John Churchill's military prowess survived his critics and, more important, his incompetent, if not quite treasonous successors. Marlborough's great services served England for generations, and ultimately provided the man, Winston Spencer Churchill, who would quite literally save England from her greatest, most powerful enemy -Adolph Hitler. To soundly defeat the greatest army of the age, led by a competent, respected general is always memorable. However, it should be remembered that the purpose of war is political change, not victory per se. Probably the greatest military victory ever, Hannibal's victory over the Roman Legions at Cannae is instructive. Cannae, although it was the classic battle of annihilation, had almost no effect other than to kill a lot of people. After the tragic loss, the Romans reacted like they always had: they prayed to their gods, created a new army, and appointed a new general who decisively and permanently defeated their impertinent opponent. Given the comprehensive excellence of this, his first book of history, I can only hope that Mr. Spenser will

Readable, effortlessly so in fact - I am not sure but I think Charles Spencer, or Earl Spencer, is actually a journalist - if so I think this book is the best of all worlds. It is a well referenced book which I think will appeal to academics and historians of English and military history - but his ability to tell a good story makes this a pleasing and easy read. This books follows and really climaxes at one of the most significant battles in Europe at the time, and one which was really epitomised the animosity between the French and the English which was to finally end with Waterloo so 100 years later. The explanation of the background and the domination of the French in Europe at the time is well done. This is no dry-rendering of facts. The book is divided into two halves, the first half backgrounds the politics of Europe and the various men who would later indulge in the war - and it seems it was an indulgence. the second half takes us through the campaign, the life, and the major battles, including the battle of Blenheim which left several thousand British and allies dead and many more French. John Churchill, who lead the British was later created Duke of Marlborough by Queen Anne for his efforts and was granted Government money to build the immense palace which was named for his most famous battle. Charles Spencer and the Earls of Spencer are descended from the Junior Branch of his family and so I expect he may have had access to papers to assist in this. For whatever reason it seems appropriate that he should write this book about his ancestor. A great book and a good read.

"Battle for Europe" by Charles Spencer is a riveting account of the great battle fought at Blenheim between Allied forces under the command of John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough, and the French Army of Louis XIV on August 13, 1704. This is a splendidly told story, not only covering this pivotal battle but the events leading up to it and the main characters involved, including my favourite, Prince Eugene of Savoy. This battle possibly changed the course of European history with the near destruction of Louis XIV's army. Up to this point the French Army under the command of many capable marshals had never been beaten. It was virtually unstoppable until it met Marlborough, the Captain-General of the armies fighting against France. In this book Charles Spencer describes the outcome of that meeting at Blenheim. The story telling is first-rate, the narrative flows fast and smoothly, is packed full of information but never over-loads the reader with too much. The colour plates are excellent and the maps sufficient for the story however I would have appreciated maybe a few more. The account of the fighting is excellent and once you start reading it's hard to stop. The narrative drags you into the fighting as the allied infantry assaults the villages of Blenheim and Oberglau and then mass in the centre for the decisive offensive that was to break the back of the French forces. In the end the allies lost 12,000 men killed and wounded but the French lost more than three times that number. This is an excellent account and adds much to the military history of this period, no decent library should be without a copy on their shelves