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Marlborough: England's Fragile Genius
Best-selling military historian Richard Holmes delivers an expertly written and exhilarating account of the life of John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough, Britain's finest soldier, who rose from genteel poverty to lead his country to glory, cementing its position as a major player on the European stage and saviour of the Holy Roman Empire.
John Churchill is, by any reasonable analysis, Britain’s greatest ever soldier. He mastered strategy, tactics and logistics. His big four battles – Blenheim (which saved the Holy Roman Empire), Ramilies, Oudenarde and Malplaquet – were events at the very centre of the European stage. He captured Lille, France’s second city, overran Bavaria and beat a succession of French marshals so badly that one, the squat and energetic Bofflers, was rewarded by Louis XIV for only losing moderately.
A coalition manager long before the phrase was invented, he commanded a huge polyglot army with centrifugal political tendencies and bending it to his will by sheer force of personality.
He was also a politician on the domestic stage, intimate with two monarchs, James II and Queen Anne, and the prop of successive cabinets. He had extraordinary strength and durability. His family connections wove him into the fabric of Europe: his sister Arabella was James II’s mistress and their son, James, Duke of Berwick, was one of Louis XIV’s most successful commanders. Although the Marlboroughs lost their only son Jack to smallpox, both their daughters married Whig grandees, and their descendants include Sir Winston Churchill and Earl Spencer.
Yet John Churchill was also deeply controversial. He accepted a pension from one of Charles II’s mistresses for services vigorously rendered. He owed his rise and his peerage to James II yet, determined to be on the winning side, he deserted him in his hour of need in 1688. He maintained regular correspondence with the Jacobites while serving William and Mary and with the French while fighting Louis XIV. He made money on a prodigious scale, but was notoriously tight-fisted, long regretting an annuity given to a secretary whose quick-wittedness saved him from capture. But in the age when commissions were bought and sold, and commanders often owed their position to the hue of their blood, he never lost his soldiers’ confidence.
John Churchill is, by any reasonable analysis, Britain’s greatest ever soldier. He mastered strategy, tactics and logistics. His big four battles – Blenheim (which saved the Holy Roman Empire), Ramilies, Oudenarde and Malplaquet – were events at the very centre of the European stage. He captured Lille, France’s second city, overran Bavaria and beat a succession of French marshals so badly that one, the squat and energetic Bofflers, was rewarded by Louis XIV for only losing moderately.
A coalition manager long before the phrase was invented, he commanded a huge polyglot army with centrifugal political tendencies and bending it to his will by sheer force of personality.
He was also a politician on the domestic stage, intimate with two monarchs, James II and Queen Anne, and the prop of successive cabinets. He had extraordinary strength and durability. His family connections wove him into the fabric of Europe: his sister Arabella was James II’s mistress and their son, James, Duke of Berwick, was one of Louis XIV’s most successful commanders. Although the Marlboroughs lost their only son Jack to smallpox, both their daughters married Whig grandees, and their descendants include Sir Winston Churchill and Earl Spencer.
Yet John Churchill was also deeply controversial. He accepted a pension from one of Charles II’s mistresses for services vigorously rendered. He owed his rise and his peerage to James II yet, determined to be on the winning side, he deserted him in his hour of need in 1688. He maintained regular correspondence with the Jacobites while serving William and Mary and with the French while fighting Louis XIV. He made money on a prodigious scale, but was notoriously tight-fisted, long regretting an annuity given to a secretary whose quick-wittedness saved him from capture. But in the age when commissions were bought and sold, and commanders often owed their position to the hue of their blood, he never lost his soldiers’ confidence.
512 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2008
17 people are currently reading
240 people want to read
About the author
Richard Holmes
116 books92 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
See this thread for more information.
Edward Richard Holmes was Professor of Military and Security Studies at Cranfield University and the Royal Military College of Science. He was educated at Cambridge, Northern Illinois, and Reading Universities, and carried out his doctoral research on the French army of the Second Empire. For many years he taught military history at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst.
A celebrated military historian, Holmes is the author of the best-selling and widely acclaimed Tommy and Redcoat: The British Soldier in the Age of Horse and Musket. His dozen other books include Dusty Warriors, Sahib, The Western Front, The Little Field Marshal: Sir John French, The Road to Sedan, Firing Line, The Second World War in Photographs and Fatal Avenue: A Traveller’s History of Northern France and Flanders (also published by Pimlico).
He was general editor of The Oxford Companion to Military History and has presented eight BBC TV series, including ‘War Walks’, ‘The Western Front’ and ‘Battlefields’, and is famous for his hugely successful series ‘Wellington: The Iron Duke’ and ‘Rebels and Redcoats’.
See this thread for more information.
Edward Richard Holmes was Professor of Military and Security Studies at Cranfield University and the Royal Military College of Science. He was educated at Cambridge, Northern Illinois, and Reading Universities, and carried out his doctoral research on the French army of the Second Empire. For many years he taught military history at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst.
A celebrated military historian, Holmes is the author of the best-selling and widely acclaimed Tommy and Redcoat: The British Soldier in the Age of Horse and Musket. His dozen other books include Dusty Warriors, Sahib, The Western Front, The Little Field Marshal: Sir John French, The Road to Sedan, Firing Line, The Second World War in Photographs and Fatal Avenue: A Traveller’s History of Northern France and Flanders (also published by Pimlico).
He was general editor of The Oxford Companion to Military History and has presented eight BBC TV series, including ‘War Walks’, ‘The Western Front’ and ‘Battlefields’, and is famous for his hugely successful series ‘Wellington: The Iron Duke’ and ‘Rebels and Redcoats’.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
October 30, 2025
Europe’s Greatest General
John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough is one of the most important players in European history. However, I feel he is little known in wider circles. I had the pleasure of recently visiting his magnificent palace of Blenheim in Woodstock, England which attracts thousands of visitors a year. But I would argue few know about the genius behind it all. In fact, his descendent Winston Churchill who was accidentally born there has become more important, with his own exhibit. As such I wanted to know more about the fascinating man, who Winston Churchill himself revered and so I turned to Richard Holmes’s Marlborough: England’s Fragile Genius. It is an okay biography, which impressive research, and does demonstrate all of Holmes’s characteristic strengths, for example, his command of military history, his gift for clear explanation, and his empathy for the men who served under great leaders. Yet, while Marlborough is never less than competent, it lacks some of the spark, cohesion, and narrative drive that made Wellington: The Iron Duke such a definitive work. The result is a solid but uneven portrait, illuminating in parts, but curiously remote in others.
Holmes sets out to rehabilitate Marlborough’s reputation from centuries of caricature. The Duke has long been a controversial figure: a brilliant strategist, yes, but also a political chameleon, accused of self-interest, opportunism, and even treachery. Holmes’s subtitle, England’s Fragile Genius, captures his central argument, that Marlborough’s greatness was inseparable from his moral and emotional vulnerabilities. He was not a hero in the classical sense, but a man navigating the treacherous world of Restoration and early Georgian politics, where survival often demanded flexibility rather than purity.
Holmes writes with evident admiration for Marlborough’s military genius. His accounts of Blenheim, Ramillies, and Oudenarde are lucid and tactically insightful. Holmes’s years as a soldier and historian give him a rare authority when dissecting eighteenth-century battlefield manoeuvres. The scale and complexity of the campaigns are made accessible, and he’s at his best when showing how Marlborough’s victories stemmed from not just intellect but a deep sense of discipline, logistics, and empathy for the common soldier. These sections are the book’s high points and the reason to read it.
However, Marlborough falters in areas where Holmes’s Wellington: The Iron Duke succeeded. The pacing is uneven, and the narrative often sinks beneath the weight of political minutiae. Holmes’s desire to do justice to every diplomatic twist and court intrigue results in long stretches where the energy drains from the page. The politics of Queen Anne’s reign, though undeniably central to Marlborough’s career, feel exhaustively chronicled rather than vividly brought to life. Where Wellington balanced grand strategy with sharp character insight and momentum, Marlborough feels bogged down by its own scholarship.
The emotional dimension, too, is oddly underpowered. Holmes clearly sees the relationship between Marlborough and his formidable wife, Sarah Churchill, as a key to understanding his subject, but their story never quite takes flight. We glimpse flashes of tenderness, ambition, and strain, but they remain filtered through a historian’s lens rather than experienced directly. Holmes seems less comfortable here and therefore more cautious and more analytical. As a result, the couple’s famous tempestuousness feels curiously muted.
Stylistically, Holmes’s prose is elegant and learned, though sometimes lacking the vigour that animated his earlier works. His admiration for Marlborough is palpable, but it’s accompanied by a certain detachment and a reluctance to fully embrace the contradictions that make the Duke such a fascinating, if flawed, figure. At times, the book feels more like an act of restoration than revelation: Holmes defending Marlborough from his critics rather than reimagining him for a modern audience.
None of this is to say that Marlborough: England’s Fragile Genius is a failure. On the contrary, it’s a work of serious scholarship and often of real insight. It restores Marlborough’s complexity and intelligence, offering a counterpoint to both Whig hero-worship and Jacobite vilification. But for all its virtues, the book lacks the pulse and immediacy that made Wellington: The Iron Duke a modern classic of military biography. Where Wellington crackled with life, energy, and human sympathy, Marlborough feels like a finely carved statue, impressive, dignified, but a little cold to the touch.
In the end, Holmes’s Marlborough earns respect more than affection. It’s an intelligent, carefully crafted study that rewards patient readers, but it doesn’t quite capture the restless brilliance or the emotional depth of its subject. If you admire Holmes’ work, you will find much to admire, but at the same time will close the book wishing for a little more fire behind the precision. Marlborough deserves his place in British and European history and as such deserves thorough and fair treatment. His reforms of the army and genius in the battlefield broke French dominance under Louis XIV and paved the way for rise of Great Britain and its global empire. He never lost a battle or failed to take a city he put under-siege which places him firmly above Napoleon or Frederick the Great. The man surprised me, complex and popular by contemporaries, he played an acute political game where he never truly cut away the Jacobites, shocking for a Protestant. All of this could not be achieved without the support of his fiery, difficult and intelligent wife, Sarah, who pushed him to greatness and beyond. I’m still waiting for this itch to be scratched and hope a revisit will be done soon.
John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough is one of the most important players in European history. However, I feel he is little known in wider circles. I had the pleasure of recently visiting his magnificent palace of Blenheim in Woodstock, England which attracts thousands of visitors a year. But I would argue few know about the genius behind it all. In fact, his descendent Winston Churchill who was accidentally born there has become more important, with his own exhibit. As such I wanted to know more about the fascinating man, who Winston Churchill himself revered and so I turned to Richard Holmes’s Marlborough: England’s Fragile Genius. It is an okay biography, which impressive research, and does demonstrate all of Holmes’s characteristic strengths, for example, his command of military history, his gift for clear explanation, and his empathy for the men who served under great leaders. Yet, while Marlborough is never less than competent, it lacks some of the spark, cohesion, and narrative drive that made Wellington: The Iron Duke such a definitive work. The result is a solid but uneven portrait, illuminating in parts, but curiously remote in others.
Holmes sets out to rehabilitate Marlborough’s reputation from centuries of caricature. The Duke has long been a controversial figure: a brilliant strategist, yes, but also a political chameleon, accused of self-interest, opportunism, and even treachery. Holmes’s subtitle, England’s Fragile Genius, captures his central argument, that Marlborough’s greatness was inseparable from his moral and emotional vulnerabilities. He was not a hero in the classical sense, but a man navigating the treacherous world of Restoration and early Georgian politics, where survival often demanded flexibility rather than purity.
Holmes writes with evident admiration for Marlborough’s military genius. His accounts of Blenheim, Ramillies, and Oudenarde are lucid and tactically insightful. Holmes’s years as a soldier and historian give him a rare authority when dissecting eighteenth-century battlefield manoeuvres. The scale and complexity of the campaigns are made accessible, and he’s at his best when showing how Marlborough’s victories stemmed from not just intellect but a deep sense of discipline, logistics, and empathy for the common soldier. These sections are the book’s high points and the reason to read it.
However, Marlborough falters in areas where Holmes’s Wellington: The Iron Duke succeeded. The pacing is uneven, and the narrative often sinks beneath the weight of political minutiae. Holmes’s desire to do justice to every diplomatic twist and court intrigue results in long stretches where the energy drains from the page. The politics of Queen Anne’s reign, though undeniably central to Marlborough’s career, feel exhaustively chronicled rather than vividly brought to life. Where Wellington balanced grand strategy with sharp character insight and momentum, Marlborough feels bogged down by its own scholarship.
The emotional dimension, too, is oddly underpowered. Holmes clearly sees the relationship between Marlborough and his formidable wife, Sarah Churchill, as a key to understanding his subject, but their story never quite takes flight. We glimpse flashes of tenderness, ambition, and strain, but they remain filtered through a historian’s lens rather than experienced directly. Holmes seems less comfortable here and therefore more cautious and more analytical. As a result, the couple’s famous tempestuousness feels curiously muted.
Stylistically, Holmes’s prose is elegant and learned, though sometimes lacking the vigour that animated his earlier works. His admiration for Marlborough is palpable, but it’s accompanied by a certain detachment and a reluctance to fully embrace the contradictions that make the Duke such a fascinating, if flawed, figure. At times, the book feels more like an act of restoration than revelation: Holmes defending Marlborough from his critics rather than reimagining him for a modern audience.
None of this is to say that Marlborough: England’s Fragile Genius is a failure. On the contrary, it’s a work of serious scholarship and often of real insight. It restores Marlborough’s complexity and intelligence, offering a counterpoint to both Whig hero-worship and Jacobite vilification. But for all its virtues, the book lacks the pulse and immediacy that made Wellington: The Iron Duke a modern classic of military biography. Where Wellington crackled with life, energy, and human sympathy, Marlborough feels like a finely carved statue, impressive, dignified, but a little cold to the touch.
In the end, Holmes’s Marlborough earns respect more than affection. It’s an intelligent, carefully crafted study that rewards patient readers, but it doesn’t quite capture the restless brilliance or the emotional depth of its subject. If you admire Holmes’ work, you will find much to admire, but at the same time will close the book wishing for a little more fire behind the precision. Marlborough deserves his place in British and European history and as such deserves thorough and fair treatment. His reforms of the army and genius in the battlefield broke French dominance under Louis XIV and paved the way for rise of Great Britain and its global empire. He never lost a battle or failed to take a city he put under-siege which places him firmly above Napoleon or Frederick the Great. The man surprised me, complex and popular by contemporaries, he played an acute political game where he never truly cut away the Jacobites, shocking for a Protestant. All of this could not be achieved without the support of his fiery, difficult and intelligent wife, Sarah, who pushed him to greatness and beyond. I’m still waiting for this itch to be scratched and hope a revisit will be done soon.
March 4, 2013
When I was in high school I had a framed postcard from Blenheim on my bedroom wall. It was a painting of the Duke of Marlborough, looking bad-ass (to my, admittedly, somewhat peculiar sensibilities) in breastplate and periwig. My teenage admiration was solely for his rocking personal style - I knew next to nothing about him other than that he was Winston Churchill's great-great something, and that he'd been rewarded with a huge house for kicking some dastardly Continental butt. I've been meaning to fill in this gap in my knowledge of British history for a long time. To be honest, I was a little unclear about the whole William and Mary/Queen Anne period, period. As far as I knew, everyone, relieved to have the Glorious Revolution behind them, sat down with a clay pipe and a cup of coffee and got on with the the Enlightenment. As it turns out, the turn of the eighteenth century was a fairly pivotal time, both geopolitically and in terms of the development of key British institutions like the standing army and the prime minister-ship.
This biography is periodically charming but somewhat pedestrian. The title is a little puzzling to me, even after finishing the book. I'm guessing Churchill was fragile because he suffered from crippling migraines. I liked Holmes' Redcoat, although it, too, displayed a want of requisite editing. Holmes marshals a lot of evidence to support each of his points. He needs to be a little more selective. And the blow-by-blow battle accounts are definitely for the specialist. Tighter summaries of the battles with more analysis and less detail would have been more appropriate for a book marketed, as this one is, for the general reader. I enjoyed the gossipy bits the most. The politics of the bedroom played as important a role in Marlborough's meteoric rise as strategic success on the battlefield. As a young swain, Churchill was the lover of Barbara Villiers, erstwhile mistress of Charles II and sexual force of nature, and his entree into the retinue of James II was facilitated by that monarch's intimacy with Churchill's sister Arabella. Marlborough's captain-generalcy had everything to do with the probably platonic but exceptionally close relationship between his wife, Sarah, and Queen Anne.
Holmes is at his best presenting campaigns and conflicts from the common trooper's point-o-view. My favorite human-interest side-story in Marlborough had to do with Mrs. Christian Davies, who, searching for her husband Richard, enlisted and served for years in Marlborough's campaigns as a dragoon. She was discovered only after suffering a gunshot wound. Oh, and there's the pleasure of a ubiquitous real-life Captain Blackader popping up throughout the narrative.
This biography is periodically charming but somewhat pedestrian. The title is a little puzzling to me, even after finishing the book. I'm guessing Churchill was fragile because he suffered from crippling migraines. I liked Holmes' Redcoat, although it, too, displayed a want of requisite editing. Holmes marshals a lot of evidence to support each of his points. He needs to be a little more selective. And the blow-by-blow battle accounts are definitely for the specialist. Tighter summaries of the battles with more analysis and less detail would have been more appropriate for a book marketed, as this one is, for the general reader. I enjoyed the gossipy bits the most. The politics of the bedroom played as important a role in Marlborough's meteoric rise as strategic success on the battlefield. As a young swain, Churchill was the lover of Barbara Villiers, erstwhile mistress of Charles II and sexual force of nature, and his entree into the retinue of James II was facilitated by that monarch's intimacy with Churchill's sister Arabella. Marlborough's captain-generalcy had everything to do with the probably platonic but exceptionally close relationship between his wife, Sarah, and Queen Anne.
Holmes is at his best presenting campaigns and conflicts from the common trooper's point-o-view. My favorite human-interest side-story in Marlborough had to do with Mrs. Christian Davies, who, searching for her husband Richard, enlisted and served for years in Marlborough's campaigns as a dragoon. She was discovered only after suffering a gunshot wound. Oh, and there's the pleasure of a ubiquitous real-life Captain Blackader popping up throughout the narrative.
February 11, 2011
This book ends with the comment of Marlborough's opponent Bolingbroke, that the late duke had been such a great man that Bolingbroke preferred to forget his flaws. That seems to sum up Holmes' attitude as well. While his biography of John Churchill does mention the criticisms of his enemies, this is a deeply sympathetic work. In this it may be a bit unfair to the duke's contemporaries.
It is a very enjoyable book. The War of the Spanish Succession and its campaigns are now in a distant and murky past, unfamiliar to the modern reader and not easy to find order or sense in. Holmes manages to create a narrative that provides a good framework for Marlborough's campaigns and battles. His description of Marlborough's victories is as clear and concise as can be expected from an experienced military historian.
But the personality of Marlborough remains enigmatic, despite the many quotes from his voluminous correspondence. It is hard to say whether this is a failing of the biographer, or unavoidable because the great commander always kept in mind that his letters might fall in the wrong hand. Evidently, Marlborough was not very inclined to explain or defend his own actions, and it is to Holmes' credit that he showns restraint in trying to fill the gaps.
It is a very enjoyable book. The War of the Spanish Succession and its campaigns are now in a distant and murky past, unfamiliar to the modern reader and not easy to find order or sense in. Holmes manages to create a narrative that provides a good framework for Marlborough's campaigns and battles. His description of Marlborough's victories is as clear and concise as can be expected from an experienced military historian.
But the personality of Marlborough remains enigmatic, despite the many quotes from his voluminous correspondence. It is hard to say whether this is a failing of the biographer, or unavoidable because the great commander always kept in mind that his letters might fall in the wrong hand. Evidently, Marlborough was not very inclined to explain or defend his own actions, and it is to Holmes' credit that he showns restraint in trying to fill the gaps.
March 28, 2022
"In the darkest hour he was always smiles and politeness, displaying that most attractive of military virtues, grace under pressure" p254 (Regarding Marlborough)
A great book if you have a deep interest in the military history of the time. Prior to this book all I really knew about Marlborough was that he is hailed as potentially Britain's greatest general. Although his achievements are a little more subtle than that of a Napoleon, Alexander or Caesar, the impact he had altered the face of Europe shifting the power balance away from France in a time when they appeared unstoppable. I was actually quite surprised by how few battles he fought (all he basically won them all) but I was interested to read that siege warfare was predominantly the main theater of campaign so this makes sense. Aside from this Marlborough seems to be very gifted in organizing and maneuvering an army with his signature move being to deceive the enemy into thinking an attack would be launched in one place and then focusing his strength on someplace entirely different.
I did find the focus on the military side a little bit much at times with many details which possibly could have been omitted (however this must be for those with a keener interest than mine). I felt this sometimes led to the rest of his life being neglected very slightly. However he does come across as a very capable politician who was able to navigate several regime changes (with a few falls from grace) and managing a delicate coalition of allied forces .
Another area that was covered well was his relationship with Sarah which truly captured the passion between them, thanks to the inclusion of correspondence between the two of them. She seems to have been both an asset and a liability throughout his career. Initially pushing him on and her connection to Queen Anne was a very helpful one. However, on the flip side her public fallout with Anne also led to his fall later in life.
Finally it was interesting to find out about the origins of Blenheim palace (future home of Winston Churchill) and the battle which was its namesake. However it is quite poignant that it was never fully completed during his life.
Overall an interesting overview of Marlborough and the history of the period but definitely more those into military history
A great book if you have a deep interest in the military history of the time. Prior to this book all I really knew about Marlborough was that he is hailed as potentially Britain's greatest general. Although his achievements are a little more subtle than that of a Napoleon, Alexander or Caesar, the impact he had altered the face of Europe shifting the power balance away from France in a time when they appeared unstoppable. I was actually quite surprised by how few battles he fought (all he basically won them all) but I was interested to read that siege warfare was predominantly the main theater of campaign so this makes sense. Aside from this Marlborough seems to be very gifted in organizing and maneuvering an army with his signature move being to deceive the enemy into thinking an attack would be launched in one place and then focusing his strength on someplace entirely different.
I did find the focus on the military side a little bit much at times with many details which possibly could have been omitted (however this must be for those with a keener interest than mine). I felt this sometimes led to the rest of his life being neglected very slightly. However he does come across as a very capable politician who was able to navigate several regime changes (with a few falls from grace) and managing a delicate coalition of allied forces .
Another area that was covered well was his relationship with Sarah which truly captured the passion between them, thanks to the inclusion of correspondence between the two of them. She seems to have been both an asset and a liability throughout his career. Initially pushing him on and her connection to Queen Anne was a very helpful one. However, on the flip side her public fallout with Anne also led to his fall later in life.
Finally it was interesting to find out about the origins of Blenheim palace (future home of Winston Churchill) and the battle which was its namesake. However it is quite poignant that it was never fully completed during his life.
Overall an interesting overview of Marlborough and the history of the period but definitely more those into military history
October 22, 2018
A thorough assessment beautifully balanced between the military & political.
June 15, 2022
This isn't a period of history I am particularly interested in but, with an interest in the British Army and its development (and a planned visit to Blenheim Palace), it would be perverse not to know about Marlborough and his campaigns. And who could be a better guide, than the late, great - and much missed - Richard Holmes? Here's a man who knows one end of a musket from another, so is well-placed to describe the campaigns and put them in their proper context. Yes, it is heavy on military details but that was Marlborough's business. Holmes also does a good job of putting Marlborough's life into its wider political and social contexts. There's a description of Whigs and Tories which I may well copy and put on my noticeboard for future reference!
It's especially interesting to see the development of what would become the British way of war into the 20th century (if we view imperial ventures as a distraction): coalition warfare on the continent, bankrolling allies and paying them to fight if possible but doing our bit when necessary. Marlborough really had to be a mixture of general and diplomat in what was much like an early NATO taking on the threatening superpower of the day - Louis XIV's France.
Marlborough was certainly a complex chap with an 'interesting' life which, ultimately, was rather tragic and the end rather takes the shine off Blenheim Palace. If only, like Wellington, his great victory could have come at the end of his military career rather than in the middle, then he may have been able to enjoy his triumph and its rewards.
This is a detailed and well-researched book and Holmes demonstrates his wider knowledge of history in various apposite comparisons. He describes battles well - supported with fine maps - and uses a good selection of contemporary accounts and quotes. As always with Holmes, he has a good sense of the humorous which makes for an entertaining read.
It's especially interesting to see the development of what would become the British way of war into the 20th century (if we view imperial ventures as a distraction): coalition warfare on the continent, bankrolling allies and paying them to fight if possible but doing our bit when necessary. Marlborough really had to be a mixture of general and diplomat in what was much like an early NATO taking on the threatening superpower of the day - Louis XIV's France.
Marlborough was certainly a complex chap with an 'interesting' life which, ultimately, was rather tragic and the end rather takes the shine off Blenheim Palace. If only, like Wellington, his great victory could have come at the end of his military career rather than in the middle, then he may have been able to enjoy his triumph and its rewards.
This is a detailed and well-researched book and Holmes demonstrates his wider knowledge of history in various apposite comparisons. He describes battles well - supported with fine maps - and uses a good selection of contemporary accounts and quotes. As always with Holmes, he has a good sense of the humorous which makes for an entertaining read.
August 10, 2020
For citizens of the 21st Century, the landscape of military titans likely stretches back only so far as the First World War, with perhaps a faint wisp of the glory achieved by Napoleon and Wellington in the 19th Century. Marlborough, lodged at the hinge period between the 17th and 18th Century, may be lost to many readers, particularly Americans. However, the Duke of Marlborough's exploits as a military commander, alliance-builder, tactician, and progenitor of Britain's place among the great European (and world) powers are rivaled by few, if any, of the more common names of battlefield victors.
Richard Holmes delivers a solid but ungainly portrait of Marlborough. While the Duke's military campaigns are relayed in fine detail, the larger themes are lost amidst the intimate focus on specific battles. After putting down the book, this reader has a good sense as to how Marlborough achieved victory at Blenheim, Ramillies, Oudenarde, and Malplaquet, but the victories ring hollow as the larger picture of the war and alliance, as well as British politics, is not conveyed as powerfully.
Holmes is best at the blow-by-blow account of the battles. Modern readers will not be mystified by Marlborough's tactics. However, the larger strategic and political considerations of the War of the Spanish Succession take a back seat in the narrative, an unfortunate aspect of the book as the war comes to firmly establish Britain's role in European wars and ensuring a balance of power on the Continent.
Holmes succeeds in showing Marlborough as a military genius; other writers, perhaps the Duke's famous forebear Winston Churchill, are required to elevate the Duke beyond mere battlefield victories into a founding father of modern British power and military might.
Richard Holmes delivers a solid but ungainly portrait of Marlborough. While the Duke's military campaigns are relayed in fine detail, the larger themes are lost amidst the intimate focus on specific battles. After putting down the book, this reader has a good sense as to how Marlborough achieved victory at Blenheim, Ramillies, Oudenarde, and Malplaquet, but the victories ring hollow as the larger picture of the war and alliance, as well as British politics, is not conveyed as powerfully.
Holmes is best at the blow-by-blow account of the battles. Modern readers will not be mystified by Marlborough's tactics. However, the larger strategic and political considerations of the War of the Spanish Succession take a back seat in the narrative, an unfortunate aspect of the book as the war comes to firmly establish Britain's role in European wars and ensuring a balance of power on the Continent.
Holmes succeeds in showing Marlborough as a military genius; other writers, perhaps the Duke's famous forebear Winston Churchill, are required to elevate the Duke beyond mere battlefield victories into a founding father of modern British power and military might.
February 9, 2022
Ah, the War of the Spanish Succession - and its seemingly never ending campaigns in Flanders. There's a lot of writing in this book that is basically variations on this typical sentence: "Cadogan had now got his infantry into line from Groenewald towards Shaerken, with Natzmer's and Rantzau's horsemen on his right flank."
Well, okay, I admit I skimmed over a lot of the details of the post-Blenheim battles fought - and won - by Marlborough. After all, this is Richard Holmes' book, and there is perfect sense in him concentrating his greatest attention to detail upon the practicalities of Marlborough's manoevers in the decade that he was the chief Commander of British (and allied) forces, on the ground in the low countries. But it's not a genre of historical writing that I really seek. I would have preferred to have had more on Marlborough the courtier - and survivor of the turbulent politics of the later Stuarts.
Holmes successfully explains Marlborough's rise to power, through the machinations of his manipulative and ambitious wife, and his own unerring ability as a courtier and influencer of men. It's rather a pity that Holmes only allots about 25 pages of his 480 page text to the last decade of Marlborough's life. But I completely understand the logic of using traditional military history as the lens through which to appreciate and understand his contributions to England and the monarchs he served.
Well, okay, I admit I skimmed over a lot of the details of the post-Blenheim battles fought - and won - by Marlborough. After all, this is Richard Holmes' book, and there is perfect sense in him concentrating his greatest attention to detail upon the practicalities of Marlborough's manoevers in the decade that he was the chief Commander of British (and allied) forces, on the ground in the low countries. But it's not a genre of historical writing that I really seek. I would have preferred to have had more on Marlborough the courtier - and survivor of the turbulent politics of the later Stuarts.
Holmes successfully explains Marlborough's rise to power, through the machinations of his manipulative and ambitious wife, and his own unerring ability as a courtier and influencer of men. It's rather a pity that Holmes only allots about 25 pages of his 480 page text to the last decade of Marlborough's life. But I completely understand the logic of using traditional military history as the lens through which to appreciate and understand his contributions to England and the monarchs he served.
August 8, 2021
Unbelievably research, detailed account And extensive coverage of whole of Marlborough's life, but never had the flow or analysis I was expecting. Still do not know whether he was a really good general or just lucky in that his opponents seem poor. Clearly charasmatic, a really good diplomat, but his wife was so exasperating he could never relax.
July 26, 2023
I purchased this after reading the Sceptred Isle which raised my interest in Marlborough. However I found this book heavy going . It focused on the details of military strategy and did not for me paint clear picture of his personality and a subsequent political career .
One for historians and people who find military strategy fascinating. sadly I do not fall into either category .
One for historians and people who find military strategy fascinating. sadly I do not fall into either category .
September 26, 2022
Tons of great detail, but definitely relies on you having read other books about Marlborough. Jumps around quite a bit and ocassionally the author's use of pronouns can be baffling- one will have to go back and sort through a paragraph to determine who all the "he's" are.
March 9, 2019
Because of the subject Holmes was required to obviously include much more of the politics of the day. My only criticism is the title IMO it should read....Flawed instead of Fragile.
August 21, 2020
I felt this book meandering and unfocused. It's not an easy read for me.
February 3, 2022
Slow going...but informative
December 31, 2025
Holmes always hits
May 19, 2017
A solid easily readable account and as you would expect comprehensive on the military side.
February 18, 2011
A good and readable account of the life and military career of John Churchill, the first Duke of Marlborough. Not surprisingly for a military historian, Holmes is better at describing military actions, military life, and the institutional, political, and administrative contexts for these than he is at presenting the personal aspects of his subject's life. You won't come away from this book with a terribly strong sense of who Marlborough was as a man (although Holmes doesn't ignore such issues, either), but you will understand a good deal about the politics and the military of the period and why Marlborough has been considered perhaps the greatest commander in English history (only Wellington rivals him in importance). In addition to being a superb general, Marlborough was a good diplomat and a skilled courtier, shaped permanently by his experience of the instability of the Civil War and determined to make Europe and England and his family as stable and safe as he could make them. I would have liked more about the public response to him, the wild adulation after his early victories contrasted with the vicious, politically-motivated mudslinging of the later years of his command. Add this to Winston Churchill's long biography of his ancestor and a couple of the more specialised military studies of Marlborough for a fuller understanding of who he was and how he helped shape English and European history.
December 19, 2019
I felt I should have enjoyed this book much more than I did. Holmes recognises Marlborough's significance as a field commander and political figure, but delineates the former in such crushing detail that it's almost impossible for the lay reader to follow what's going on, while the latter and potentially more interesting strand is skimped. The book tells you as much as you could possibly want about the great battles of Blenheim, Ramillies, Oudenarde and Malplacquet, but is frustratingly shadowy on Marlborough the man.
December 18, 2019
A thorough and clearly well researched biography of Britain's greatest general which also sets his life very well in its wider context. A fun fast-paced read it is not. Given there is very little choice among modern biographies of Marlborough, it is the one to read if you want to understand his importance in European history.
January 16, 2013
Wasn't drawn in too much by this biography. I really enjoyed Holmes's 'Age of Wonders', but I was fascinated by Starkey's parallel biography of John and Winston Churchill.
April 1, 2017
Biography of Churchill by a renowned military historian. The book concentrates as may be expected on Marlborough’s battles and the author has clearly done huge research including visits to the battle sites to gain a better understanding of the geography. In practice the accounts are actually so detailed that the only partly interested reader actually loses track of what is happening – it would clearly gain from more summaries of the battles. Holmes’s own bias towards the ordinary British soldier comes through many times, both in terms of comments and asides on how unappreciated their efforts were then as now and in the incredibly detailed use of letters, accounts and diaries written by all ranks. The book is also disappointingly light on the relationship with Sarah (and of Sarah with Anne) and on the politics (although in some cases, and in contrast to the battle descriptions, the limited descriptions actually give a good summary of the key issues).
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