Customer Reviews

Marlborough: His Life and Times, Book Two

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Winston Churchill wrote this book during the 1930's while in political exile. His masterful handling of Hitler, Roosevelt, and Stalin is presaged as he tells the tale of John Churchill, who overcame party strife in England, baseness and shortsightedness in coalition partners, and (finally) Louis XIV of France. WSC tell the story with his brilliant flair and style, but he also pauses with the reader to reflect on such matters as how to blunt a violent political storm without being yourself destroyed, how best to handle superiors who will hold you responsible for results but will not let you do the job, and how to act honorably when all of your life's work is thrown away by your enemies. These trenchant insights were pertinent in 1700, in the 1930's, and today. You are in for a treat, read this one.

Winston Churchill is a great writer, and this biography is a page-turner. That's rare for a half-forgotten 18th Century general fighting a half-forgotten 18th Century war. Churchill makes this all come alive.

The only problem is that Marlborough, in Churchill's eyes, can do little wrong. I may have to read some of the other adverse biographies as a corrective to this.

All in all, though, a very enjoyable and informative book.