Marlborough: His Life and Times, 1934

Marlborough: His Life and Times (British Editions) #2

by Winston S. Churchill

The second volume in “a sustained meditation on statecraft and war by the greatest war leader of our time.” (Foreign Affairs).
 
The second installment in the acclaimed four-volume biography of Winston Churchill’s ancestor, the Duke of Marlborough. After the defeat of the Conservative government in the 1929 general election, Winston Churchill distanced himself from the official Conservative leadership over a myriad of issues, including Indian Home Rule and protective tariffs. During this time, Churchill entered a period of political exile—a time he referred to as “the wilderness years.”

While it may have been a low point in his political career, it was a high point for his writing. It was during this time that Churchill began his work on Marlborough: His Life and Times, widely considered to be one of Churchill’s most ambitious and masterful literary works. Although sometimes maligned and not as well known in contemporary times as his more famous descendant—Churchill himself—Marlborough was known in his day as a gifted military commander who never lost a battle. This second volume brings his military successes, political intrigues, and personal passions to life, while his descendant reflects “on the perplexities of alliances, the paradoxes of strategy, and the stresses of combat” (Foreign Affairs).

Genres: History, Biography, Nonfiction, Classics, War

717 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1934

About the author

Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill, politician and writer, as prime minister from 1940 to 1945 and from 1951 to 1955 led Great Britain, published several works, including The Second World War from 1948 to 1953, and then won the Nobel Prize for literature.

William Maxwell Aitken, first baron Beaverbrook, held many cabinet positions during the 1940s as a confidant of Churchill.

Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, KG, OM, CH, TD, FRS, PC (Can), served the United Kingdom again. A noted statesman, orator and strategist, Churchill also served as an officer in the Army. This prolific author "for his mastery of historical and biographical description as well as for brilliant oratory in defending exalted human values."

Out of respect for Winston_Churchill, the well-known American author, Winston S. Churchill offered to use his middle initial as an author.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winston...

Reviews

[Lori · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was fortunate enough to be looking for a book in the Churchill section of Audible the very day when this gem became available. I had the tome sized print version for research on ancestors that may have been involved in the Monmouth Rebellion in 1685. Narration by Sean Barrett- a Winston Churchill sound alike- for 81hrs & 30min of all 4 volumes, makes listening a gift to those who like me prefer to digest their books in audio.
This book isn't for the undetermined in sticking with a book that goes into extreme description of his many battles. Its worth sticking thru these parts to understand that his skills that never let him lose a battle were in great use in the political mess of those times in England and Europe. He had some help and some hindrance thru the relationship his wife Sarah had with Queen Anne.

Marlborough's wife Sarah is extremely fascinating and why a movie hasn't been made about a woman of such political influence is beyond me.
The DNA of this incredible man, who was able to lead on so many fronts at once, surely passed to his descendant Winston Spencer Churchill, without whom the world would be a much darker place.

[Ron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Winston Churchill writes about his illustrious ancestor. This is the "abridged" version, almost 1000 pages long. Churchill describes the battles in the "world war" in a Victorian style, emphasizing the heroism but also the price paid. He naturally favours Marlborough throughout his more controversial moments, such as turning on James II, yet endeavours to present all sides of the story.

In describing the great world events, especially during the War of the Spanish Succession, Churchill is always looking for the great turning points of history. Lost opportunities, chance, and intrigues in the "back stairs" of Queen Anne's palace. There the Queen's severed friendship with Marlborough's wife Sarah Churchill led to major decisions which impacted events.

Well worth reading; a look into the chaotic Parliamentary Whig/Tory dynamics of the time, the great alliance coming together to stop the dominant France of Louis XIV, the carnage in Belgium, France and Germany, some of the bloodiest battles in history up to that time. Above all, it shows Marlborough to be one of the great leaders in all history; a man of patience and vision, a man of action.

All in the voice of one Winston S. Churchill, who could write a riveting history with the best of them.

[Al Maki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not often that one man who shapes his time writes a biography of another. Like Sir Winston himself, partisan, pugnacious and brilliant. I read it because Peter Drucker said that it was an excellent presentation of the problems of successful coalitions and it certainly is. It's also a very good presentation of the early eighteenth century.

[Murray Brockman · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Century of Intrigue…

Masterfully illuminated by Winston Churchill. Of course he is not unbiased in his defense of his illustrious ancestor, but he makes an excellent case, based on the limited historical evidence. We can only speculate how much important evidence was destroyed in this age of plots, counterplots, and shifting, highly complex alliances. Fair warning: Churchill expects significant knowledge on the part of the reader.

[Dennis Murphy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Marlborough: His Life and Times by Winston Churchill is a book that is a monumental challenge to read. The most ardent barrier to anyone reading it to completion is its length, which spans at least two thousand pages. It took a year and a half to read about half of the book. But, strangely, bizarrely, I read the remainder of the book in the span of about a month and a half. While there were points that were interesting in the beginning of the narrative, Churchill's retelling and historical revisionism regarding his ancestor's triumph became a joy to go through when Queen Anne began to break with the Duke and Duchess that helped, as Churchill often claimed, to glorify her reign. The gradual estrangement of the Marlboroughs from the Queen, the eventual casting out of the Duke, and the perfidy of a separate peace was very nearly spell-binding. At least for, one such as myself, a student of people, power, politics, and global affairs.

The book is too long, and perhaps too uneven in its early to mid section to be something that I would recommend to all comers. Instead, I will just say that the book is an exceedingly enthralling window into a now long gone era. The framing, of course, is colored by the love and respect of Churchill, who himself had a writing style that was already old-timey for his age. Even so, it is well worth a glance and a peruse, if you cannot spare the weeks and months needed to work your way through the entirety of the text. Particularly if you engage with politics or history.

[Bryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Churchill is being Churchill in this book, that is he is throwing out his own opinion without any corroboration from other sources (or perhaps I’m being Bryan by making that statement). Therefore, I do not know if he is right, or if his conclusions have been overturned by later historians. However, I do know this, it makes for entertaining reading. As I said about Volume I, it’s kind of like Game of Thrones, without the magic.

As an aside, if I ever meet George R. R. Martin, I’m going to punch him in the nose for not finishing his series after I had invested so much time in it. I mean, I was his first big fan (maybe not, but it makes for interesting reading).

Back to Churchill, I’m slowly making my way through books he has written. I should take up painting as a hobby, but, alas, I’m not coordinated enough. I’ll have to settle for reading and snarky book reviews that go on too long and end, ‘not with a bang, but with a whimper.’

Don’t get me started on T. S. Eliot, that overblown windbag who ditched his American citizenship… But I really love his poetry.

[Bryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

As you all know by now, I like Winston Churchill, so I decided to read some works by him. This book is more for our English cousins than Americans, but it contains that beautiful mastery of the English Language Churchill was to make use of during WWII. In spite of its 17th century European setting, I warmed to this book, mainly for its Game of Thrones feel without the magic. You can see what a tangled web was weaved when all the major countries work in their own and European interests.

Only 3 more volumes in this series on Churchill’s famous descendant to go. Now, I just have to wait for Volumes 3 and 4 to go on sale by Kindle…

[Michaelbatte]

very interesting but hard to get through - will have to tackle again later this year - on page 327

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like everything written by Churchill (at one time the highest paid journalist in the world) the prose in this biography of his glorious ancestor John Churchill shines.