Marlborough: His Life And Times

Marlborough: His Life and Times (British Editions) #1

by Winston S. Churchill, Henry Steele Commager

Abridged and with an introduction by Henry Steele Commager.

Genres: Biography, History, Nonfiction, Military History, European History, Classics

983 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1933

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

[Jean · Rating 5 out of 5]

In Leo Strauss eulogy to Winston Spencer Churchill he wrote, “Not a whit less important than his deeds and speeches are his writing, above all his Marlborough the greatest historical work written in our Century, an inexhaustible mine of political wisdom and understanding, which should be required reading for every student of political science.” I finally have finished the four volumes of “Marlborough, His Life and Times” by Winston Spencer Churchill.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Churchill’s writing. His mastery of the English language, the grandeur of his prose, sets the book far above the ordinary academic writing. As I was reading my hardback books, I could picture, WSC pacing up and down his writing room at Chartwell with a glass of whiskey in one hand and a cigar in the other dictating to his secretary. It took WSC ten years and a million words to write this biography. The books were published as follows: book one in 1933, book two in 1934, book three in 1936 and book four in 1938.

John Churchill (1650 – 1722) was the eldest son of Winston Churchill (1620-1688) a Calvary officer. General John Churchill was a military commander, statesman and the Earl of Marlborough. He was victorious in the Battle of Blenheim in 1704. He named his home Blenheim Castle; WSC was born in the Castle. Marlborough supported William of Orange against James II in 1688. It is said he never lost a battle. As a statesman he managed England’s diplomatic triumphs during the War of the Spanish succession. He was given the title Duke of Marlborough for his service to England.

WSC started learning about John Churchill as a child and spent his life studying the man. He did extensive research including playing detective to find information. He uncovered the truth about the memoirs attributed to King James and the Jacobite records in Paris. This detective work was most impressive. WSC motivation to write the biography was to correct the charges made by historian Macaulay in his biography of John Churchill. WSC was vigilant in correcting errors made by previous historians, incidental or otherwise. WSC did include negative information about his ancestor in his attempt to be a neutral historian. The books contained many photographs. WSC was related to Prince Diane Spencer. The third Duke of Marlborough married a Spencer; by the fifth Duke of Marlborough the Spencer Coat of Arms had been incorporated into to the Marlborough Coat of Arms. The books are all in the range of 680 to 983 pages, so a reader needs to be prepared for a long project in reading these books.

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's Churchill. Need I say more?
Well, I will also add that the man in charge of the abridging did an excellent job. The book is magnificent and long now, but less overwhelming than the 6 book set it is derived from.
My one comment is Churchill is--for obvious reasons--a big fan of Marlborough and rarely admits to the man making a mistake. He was one of the more admirable guys in the government at that time in England, so this isn't a big deal, but if you happen to dislike Marlborough, go somewhere else. This isn't the book for you. ( Although, if you dislike Marlborough, you're weird and need to get a life. :P )I do not mean to say that Churchill's writing is biassed and untruthful, only that he is clearly a big admirer of his ancestor's talents. :)

[Taylor Ross · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I did enjoy this book, there were many things that I had problems with. The main problem being the bias of the author in favour of the subject, which should not come as much of a surprise considering he is writing about his own illustrious ancestor. The book often reads as a rebuttle to all criticism that has even been aimed at Marlborough by other authors through out the years. Churchill tries to make a show of his own impartiality, but I couldn’t help but get the impression that he was supressing the negative aspects of Marlborough’s character and actions while making him out to be nearly omnipotent in war and politics while consistently having impeccable moral fibre. The author also indulges in overly flowery language which makes things hard to follow at times, while also going too far in his own speculation regarding the unknown motivations and inner thoughts of the other actors in this history.

Those issues aside, I think this is a very impressive history of the time period. I think that it may be the most detailed history I’ve ever read considering how much ground it covers. The planning and negotiations that take place before the various battles and sieges and political intrigues are all discussed in extreme detail, heavily quoting directly from the written correspondance of the principle actors at the time of these events. You really get an incredible insight into the practicalities of war and politics at the turn of the 18th century.

Marlborough’s story is very compelling. While acting as one of the leading generals in the War of the Spanish Succession spanning many years against Louis XIV of France, he shows an incredible ability to work successfully within the parameters set out for him by the ever shifting attitudes of his allies in the Grand Alliance as well as the parliament and crown of his own country, Great Britain. The story paints a grim picture of party politics in a democracy, showing how a country can so suddenly change its attitudes towards its allies and own its leaders after an election. As when the pro-alliance whigs are thrown out of power by the peace-at-any-price tories, Marlborough, who had previously been lauded as a hero for his achievements on the continent, is suddenly treated like a criminal up until the death of Queen Anne.

Sidenote: One thing that always annoys me about reading British history is the titles. Someone will be referred to by one name for 80% of the book and suddenly they’ll be made a lord or whatever and they’ll only be referred to by their new title from there on out. Can’t keep track of these freaks.

I couldn’t find the audible edition including all volumes that I listened to so I’m logging my review under this print edition.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well researched biography of the Duke of Marlborough by his descendant Winston Churchill. I listened to this on Audible. The downside of that was I struggled to keep track of all the characters in the history and place names on the continent. But I think I managed to keep track enough to give myself a better understanding of the time.

John Churchill grew up during the fallout of the English Civil War. His father was a supporter of Charles I, which obviously didn't put the family in good stead until Charles II was returned to the throne. John Churchill really came to service under William III with whom he had strained relations. He and his wife were good friends with the future Queen Anne and they played a big part in her early reign. However, Sarah fell out of favour with the Queen and it affected the career of her husband and the process of the continental war with France. Many "what ifs" could be asked about what would have happened if he had been able to finish his campaign against France instead of peace being sought with the Treaty of Utrecht (the one that secured Gibraltar).

There is a lot of history in this book. I was surprised at how many WWI and WWII battlefields were named during his campaigns. Those tracts of land were fought over long before the 20th century. It is worth knowing a bit of the history, the War of the Spanish Succession. Ripples from the past have a habit of affecting us long into the future.

[Antonio Nunez · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is unique. It is the biography of the greatest soldier produced by England, a military genius whose most famous battles are studied in military colleges, written over a decade by his most famous descendant, a man who, besides having led successfully his country through its finest hour and possibly saved the world from totalitarianism, won a Nobel prize, not the Peace one either, but Literature. And it shows, the book is written in those rolling cadences that call for it to be read while sipping brandy from a decanter the size of a fish bowl. It is a witty, sardonic, heartfelt book written with admiration but it is not a hagiography. It does remark on all the warts not only of the great duke but everyone else besides.

Who else is there? Charles II. James II. William III and Mary I. George I. Louis XIV. Charles XII of Sweden. Prince Eugene of Savoy. Philip V of Spain. Pope Innocent XI. Marshall Vendôme. Bolingbroke and Oxford. The Old Pretender. The book is swarming with important historical figures. It is Eurocentric, but that was the flavor of the time and Churchill, a great imperialist, thought nothing important ever happened outside of Western Europe. The duke’s story is formidable, it beggars belief. He came from ancient stock but his family had been divided and then broken by the Civil War. His plan in life was to reestablish his family in wealth and status. This he achieved in spades. His early years are virtually picaresque. In the merry court of Charles II, when England was subservient to France (Charles was actually on Louis’s payroll), John Churchill as he then was arrived and was taken on board by the Duke of York not only because of his good looks and charm, but also by his almost universal talent. The man did everything extremely well.

His way was smoothed by his sister, a famous courtesan who bore the Duke a child who became a famous French general, the Duke of Berwick, and by other beautiful women, the most important of which was the redoubtable Sarah Jennings, who would become his life companion. She was beautiful, brilliant and steely, a top-notch politician who was also a great estate manager and a witty and malignant racconteuse. In James II’s reign Churchill’s career rapidly advanced but he was more loyal to the Protestant settlement than to the schemes of a remarkably silly king. He betrayed James while staying faithful to England’s Protestant destiny. He supported the takeover by William of Orange and his wife Mary, James’s Protestant daughter. Churchill, in spite of having been instrumental in the regime change and being a brilliant soldier, fell out of favor. So he and Sarah stuck with Mary’s dumpy sister, Anne, who was continuously insulted by her sister even though she was the heiress. They, she and her husband the prince of Denmark, and a political ally Sidney Godolphin became a unit, complete with code names and secret correspondence.

Upon the death of Mary, the boorish William took over, bypassing Anne. He harnessed the power of England to protect Dutch interests against the might Louis XIV, who wanted to emasculate all of Europe, including the papacy, under a yoke of French military, political, economic and cultural hegemony (Churchill writes that in 1688 Pope Innocent IX used the power of the Papacy funded by friends of his banking family to support William of Orange against James II because the latter, although a fervent Catholic, was a creature of Louis XIV). This was the beginning of the alliance between Anglican England, Calvinist Netherlands and the Catholic Empire that Marlborough, as he then became, would lead to great victories. Upon the death of William Ann became queen and, under the influence of Sarah (who was her bosom pal, since they had been girls together), she sponsored a government led by Sidney Godolphin as treasurer (in fact, since at the time the position of prime minister did not exist, this was a combination of the chancellorship and all domestic responsibilities), whereas Churchill became Captain of the allied armies and head of diplomacy, in effect foreign secretary and secretary of defense. Under this beneficent alliance Churchill led Britain (as the union between England and Scotland became known in 1707) to the cusp of the power it would again hold one century later, after the Congress of Vienna. In alliance with the Whigs whom Sarah strongly upheld, Godolphin created the Bank of England and the rudiments of modern government funding. This allowed Britain to punch above its weight by fielding enormous armies and navies that for a glorious decade would bring France, the largest and richest country of Europe, to its knees.

Although I didn’t particularly enjoy the extensive description of the battles themselves (I find it hard to visualize the movements of the various soldierly bodies across landscapes I have never seen), I understand their meaning, particularly Blenheim (or Blenem, as the English unaccountably pronounce it). It saved the Holy Roman Empire from dissolution and gave it another century until Napoleon was finished with it. Regardless, as time advanced Marlborough’s power became such that many were unhappy with him and tried to bring him down, rather like what Fabius Maximus and his patrician allies did with Schipio Africanus during the Punic Wars. Aristocracies are not comfortable with subjects too powerful and successful. They were aided in this by the overconfidence of Sarah who, understandably annoyed by the clinginess of the queen towards her, introduced her to her poor relation, Abigail Hill. Miss Hill, later known as Mrs Masham, proceeded to evict Sarah from her apparently unassailable position as favorite (as shown in a movie by that name), and by conspiring with opaque but very talented parlamentarian Robert Harley (later appointed Earl of Oxford) she contrived to produce the takeover by the tories and the ousting of the administration led by Godolphin and Marlborough. If the Whig administration had been financed by the Bank of England, which exists today, the Tories created the South Sea Company, which would later go bust crashing the British economy along with it. Sir Winston Churchill is particularly well suited to narrating this story, since at various times he was a Liberal (Whig) or a Conservative (Tory). At any rate his religious beliefs were like those of Sarah, who barely had any.

King Louis, who had been fighting a losing war to support his grandson’s claim to rule Spain as Philip V in opposition to the pretensions of the Austrian Hapsburghs, and who had been ejected from fortress after fortress by Marlborough and the allies, took advantage of this to achieve a negotiation (in the Treaty of Utrecht) in which me managed to realize virtually all of his policy goals while bringing Britain to discredit. He was saved by Marlborough’s fall as Frederick the Great would be half a century later by the death of empress Elizabeth of Russia. So the current Bourbon monarchy of Spain is a consequence of the Treaty of Utrecht. Another particularly foul consequence is that the English wrung out of the Spanish the so called asiento, or the monopoly of the right to import African slaves into Spanish America. This had consequences that reverberate into our days.

Marlborough was hounded out of office and vilified by the scurrility of the popular press of the time, most notably by dean Swift. The Tory ascendency came to an end by the division between Harley and the rascally Henry St John, lord Bolingbroke, and the death of the queen. Marlborough was reinstated in all his positions by the new Hanoverian king, George I (who didn’t particularly like him but needed his support). His final years were marred by the querulous nature of Sarah.

Here I must remark that Marlborough and Sarah were a power couple like Bill and Hill or like Tony and Cherie Blair. Or like Augustus and Livia back in the day. Sarah was as talented and ambitious as he, and her talents complemented his perfectly. But in later years she ended up by antagonizing their daughters and sons in law, as well as her husband’s allies and even the king until they found it necessary to silence her by tying her to a fake conspiracy to put the Old Pretender on the throne. After the Duke’s death she protected his reputation and wealth ferociously, and she delivered a very famous putdown to the Duke of Somerset when he proposed marriage to her.

All in all, this is fantastic history based on primary sources, beautifully written, of a formidable time in English history, when the country was on the cusp of its powers, military, political and literary. Churchill makes a very good case that Mrs Masham’s interference changed history and, by delivering France from the crushing defeat that was inexorably approaching, it postponed the reckoning that would take place under Pitt and Napoleon, it would give France the power to conduct aggressive war for another century, thus leading to the loss of the North American colonies. Regardless of the verisimilitude of this (the allies had been fighting France inconclusively for a decade when Churchill was overthrown), this is biography and history in top form, as good as what Robert A Caro is now writing in his famed LBJ biography. Highly, highly recommended.

[Jeffrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow! This was a monumental undertaking, and it is only the first volume of Churchill's biography of the Duke of Marlborough. This is not objective historical writing in the sense that we think of it today. In many ways this is a blatant apology for John Churchill, the Duke of Marlborough. W.S. Churchill is appalled by what he considers to be shoddy, biased historical research from previous Marlborough biographers and researchers, and he clearly intends to set the record straight (at least from his perspective). Honestly, WSC’s positions are highly convincing, but it is clear he has an agenda. Please don’t think current historians are not guilty of this same subjectivity, but they tend to be effective at hiding it to some greater or lesser degree.

WSC’s uses humor, sarcasm, condescension, and incredulity as rhetorical and argumentative tools. I found this amusing. This book read more like (a very long) academic response to another historian’s symposium paper presentation--often very snarky. On the other hand the research and conclusions seem solid.

[Paul Cool · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read the abridged Scribners version in 1970s. Outstanding example of the so-called 1930s Golden Age of biography, enhanced by Churchill's literary gifts and his access to never-previously accessed private papers held by then current Duke of Marlborough. I also played Avalon Hill games at the time and was inspired by book to create a Spanish Succession game. This summer plan to get an unabridged set and re-read and review that.

[Kenneth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a surprisingly interesting read. Sure, it's written by Winston Churchill, though at the time he wrote it he was a political exile most widely known for being the First Lord of the Admiralty who pushed for the Gallipoli fiasco and the Chancellor of the Exchequer who disastrously returned to the Gold Standard just before the onset of the Great Depression. At the time he was fruitlessly warning of the dangers of National Socialism in Germany. So, had his warnings been heeded and Hitler stopped at Munich rather than encouraged, we might never have heard of him and he might be better known as the author of works like this.

The book is kind of an amazing history of the European scene during the turn of the seventeenth century, combined with a literary rebuttal of many historians of the period via a remarkable level of journalism and historical research including new source material available to author largely because he was a direct descendant of the subject of the book (he was born in the Blenheim Palace whose construction takes place throughout the latter half of the book) encased in a biography of one of the most successful military commanders in European history.

It can also be read as a vicarious auto-biography as, unlike most conquering heroes, Marlborough was politically destroyed on his return to England and, indeed, lived in exile for a period of time. It is also an allegory for the need to preserve the League of Nations as in the course of the book, England abandons the coalition it had build and led against Louis XIV (The Sun King) during the War of the Spanish Succession, and disaster results. The book is fascinating on many levels, and given Churchills excellence as a prose stylist, a genuine joy to read. It's four volumes, so it's no easy task, but it's very much worth it.

[Errol Cavan · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a treat these booiks are. Not only is the a very fine account of the great Duke, but it is written by Winston Churchill himself, and he a direct desendant. Churchil did not waste his time in his wilderness years but researched, travelled extensively to important locales, and poured his literary genius into this work. It was written in part of counter Macaulay's eroneous view of John Churchill and in this it triumphantly succeeds.

Its other great strength, at least for those who styudy military history, is the depiction of famous victories, greatly enhanced as they are by the fact that the author had visited all the battlefields in person

I actually own the Folio Edition which was not listed here. It is a particulary fine set well-worth looking for as it is a joy to hold and read

[Adrian Iswariah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Its a fascinating read but heavy going. And one really desires a map alongside to try and make sense of all the movements and battles. Putting them aside the politics at play is what I enjoyed the most as much of it I simply did not realise the impact of.

[Craig · Rating 5 out of 5]

Churchill. Need I say more?

[Ross · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am reading all three volumes and will do review for series for the 3rd volume.
Review done following Vol. IV.

Having completed Vol IV (12/21/16), here is my review of the whole 2,000 pages written by Churchill over a period of 30 years.
Half the book is straight forward unbiased history which I found very interesting, 4 stars.
The other half of the book is just about Marlborough and his family and most of this was speculative argument by Churchill defending his famous ancestor from all the attacks he received both during his life and afterwards. This half was only worth 2 stars, so the whole series gets 3 stars. Churchill certainly does write beautifully.

[Erwin · Rating 2 out of 5]

A little bit interesting, but so long. I can understand the meaning for Churchill in learning about his ancestor in exhaustive detail, but he could have edited it a bit before publishing it for the rest of us...

[Teddy · Rating 2 out of 5]

A little dry - kind of like reading a textbook.

[Corbin Payne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Winston Churchill writes an account of his military genius ancestor. It’s exactly what it sounds like.