![[(Marlborough: Bk. 1: His Life and Times)] [by: Sir Winston S. Churchill]](https://images-eu.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41FswFdQazL._AC_UL160_SR160,160_.jpg)
First of all, the reader needs to be made aware that this is an abridged version of the original "Marlborough" by Winston Churchill. The full work also consists of 4 volumes, but is perhaps twice the length. In the introduction, Henry Steele Commager explains that he has reduced the text by concentrating on the military aspects. He has "included almost the whole of the military narrative (...) but merely enough of the political and the personal to brush in the background and keep the thread of the narrative."
I was unaware of this fact when I acquired the set and my first reaction was ... "Why would one like to abridge a masterpiece?!" ... In fact, after I read the original I could see Commager's point. The full "Marlborough" is not for the faint-hearted. Churchill goes into a great deal of detail in all aspects of Marlborough's Life and Times, examines all controversial points to refute all allegations made against his famous ancestor, quotes at length from many letters. Unless you are a confirmed expert in the period covering the reigns of Charles II, James II, William and Mary, and Queen Anne, you will probably find the book difficult to follow. I can therefore see the value in such an abridged version, concentrating on the military side.
Even with the political and personal aspects removed, this edition is extremely detailed and you will get the original Churchill chapters. Marlborough fought and won four great battles (Blenheim, Ramillies, Oudenarde and Malplaquet), scores of minor actions and around thirty sieges, spread in 10 campaigns. These operations are described exhaustively, and the narrative includes many letters, both from Marlborough and other participants. Churchill lets the protagonist "speak with his own words".
A most impressive piece of historical research, Churchill's Marlborough has been justly described as one of the greatest biographies in the century. No wonder Churchill received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1953, not only for this work but also for his other books.
Marlborough is widely acknowledged as England's Greatest Soldier, for example by Barnett, Chandler, Holmes and Hibbert. One must, however, bear in mind that Churchill's account is no way impartial and read other books on the Duke of Marlborough to obtain a more balanced view.
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