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Blenheim: Battle for Europe: Battle for Europe: How Two Men Stopped the French Conquest of Europe by: Charles Spencer

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Rating: - Popular history but very readable

It is maybe not one for hardcore historians but for me, a general reader with a historical and military eye, this was a really good read and seemed authentic enough. Charles Spencer has a readable style and maintained a good balance between inexorable military detail and political intrigue.

I didn't know enough about the period before I read the book but the squabbling between Whigs and Tories, Marlborough and his Dutch allies, his wife Sarah and her detractors at court, brought the whole story to life. He covered enough ground to give a holistic view of European politics while also showing the detail of how superior English (British)cavalry tactics had become and how critical a battlefield factor this was.

Blenheim was a crucial battle, both for Marlborough and the United Kingdom. Nice to read, for a change, how well drilled British regiments marched hundreds of miles and beat, with the help of Dutch and Prussian allies, the best, biggest army in the world.

Rating: - Dull and unoriginal

I'm afraid I disagree with pretty much all the other reviewers. I found this unoriginal in terms of research - no evidence of new insights from Spencer, who I think is rehashing a compendium of previous work on the subject (and at one point quotes from GM Trevelyan, always a bad sign). He does not for me get inside the personality of the Duke of Marlborough, who seems to have had such an extraordinary array of great qualities, by making pertinent comparisons and contrasts with other great men of the age and other generals through the ages. The style is hackneyed; Marlborough seems always to go home to his "loving wife", Louis XIV is ever "Machiavellian", William of Orange died "a disappointed man" etc. Dutchmen are stolid, Spaniards devout Catholics, Whigs devious.....

I afterwards heard Spencer reading an abridged version on audiobook. He reads it as though intoning the football results and makes some howlers of mispronunciation - Te Deum and Feversham among them, and gets all the French names and places cock-eyed. You'd think he would either have done his homework or left the reading to a professional actor.....

Must try harder, Spencer......

Rating: - Interesting and Enjoyable.

When I purchased this book I was not sure whether I would like it or not because I had reservations over who the author was and his connections to the Marlboroughs and whether this would impart bias but I need not have worried. It is an enjoyable well written book which has an interesting narrative and some good analysis and it does not try to bore you with detail. All in all a very good book.

Rating: - A Real Surprise!

This was a real surprise! The author is not one I would naturally gravitate to, but I picked it up on impulse in Waterstones. Spencer's style vividly brought alive the campaign and significance of Blenheim in shaping the future of Europe. I found it an easy read, a real page turner that placed you at the heart of the events described. I would happily give this 5 stars and am looking forward to reading his biography of Prince Rupert (English Civil War).

Rating: - Surprisingly good.

I bought this book with the intention of heartily disliking both it and the author. However, after a few pages it became clear that Spencer is a surprisingly good writer and historian. He takes a dispassionate view of Marlborough and carefully analyses the motives and actions of a man who was once perceived as a bit of a chancer.

The book is a very good example of narrative history; it is pacey, well written and erudite.

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