The King's honor & the King's Cardinal: The war of the Polish succession

by John L. Sutton

In this book, John Sutton provides an in depth and vivid account of the War of the Polish Succession.

Genres: History

250 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1980

Reviews

[Альберто Лорэдо]

This is an interesting work, well researched that, however, doesn't cover one of the main theaters of the war, the center and south of the Italian peninsula, where the main impact was to be felt in the aftermath of the conflict. On the other hand, there is a full chapter dedicated to an unimportant and small siege of Danzig, which beggars belief. My theory here is that the author managed to get some sources from the french ambassador in Denmark and he was able to built this chapter which, again I repeat, is totally meaningless for the outcome of this conflict.

I still think this is not a good book for covering this conflict, will keep on searching for one that covers all the aspect and theaters.

[Ben Duval]

Good, compact little book on a little-known war. Focuses on the cabinet diplomacy more than on the military history, especially how Cardinal Fleury worked with Britain to prevent a dynastic war from turning into a general European conflagration.

[Ben Gerber]

Sutton seeks to explain why France (the prime mover in this conflict) engaged in the war and what it sought to gain. He does very well in explaining this. The descriptions of the belligerents (particularly France, Austria, and Poland) and their position at the start of the war, their motives, capabilities, etc. are excellent as is the coverage of the machinations of the various ambassadors employed by them.

The military history portion is lackluster, but frankly so was the war itself in some ways. The same way Steven Seagal brings old WWE wrestlers out of retirement for his movies, the Polish War of Succession dragged geriatric field marshalls from the 17th century back onto the field for one last “hurrah.” Prepare to see Eugene of Savoy, Marshall Villars, and Francis von Mercy at their worst as they blindly (quite literally in the latter’s case) stumble through the war.

That being said, the Polish War of Succession has some pretty dramatic moments. The account of the Siege of Philipsburg features perhaps the best-known event of the war (the Duke of Berwick following in his grandfather and great-great-grandmother’s footsteps by being decapitated) and is altogether a pretty interesting read. The French ambassador in Copenhagen, the Count of Plelo, oversteps the limits of his brief and ends up directly involved in military matters by leading 1,500 French troops into battle against 40,000 Russians near Danzig. Several savage battles erupt in northern Italy between the Austrians and French, one of which involved over 100,000 men and cost over 10,000 losses. There’s plenty more of interest to the reader.

It’s a good book about a rarely covered topic.