It is a trait of any nation's regard for it's great men that its focus falls upon few and each eclipses those that precede it. Exceptionally, for the British, the fame of Duke of Wellington, who brought to book the great tyrant of his age, has thus far endured where fine commanders who came after him are all but forgotten in the popular mind. The names of Clive, Roberts and Kitchener are now seldom celebrated despite their deserved fame in their lifetimes. John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough, perhaps suffers from belonging to an age nearly a century before Arthur Wellesley began his career. Yet in Marlborough the nation has certainly its first great military man and almost certainly one who stands equal, if not higher, than any who came after him. A political genius as well as a military one, Marlborough often managed to achieve victory when his own allies conspired to prevent him. Yet more remarkable was that Marlborough was able to cooperate with another great commander of his time, Prince Eugene of Savoy. Marlborough's Wars were fought against the ancient enemy-the military might and the pervasive influence of the France of the Bourbons.
Volume two of Taylor's fine history carries the reader once again to war with Marlborough and includes more of the battles which comprise the earliest and most highly regarded carried out by the regiments of the British Army. Here the reader will discover Oudenarde, Tournai and Malplaquet among others. An excellent history in every way and essential for any student of the genius of military command.