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Blenheim: Battle for Europe , How two men stopped the French conquest of Europe: Battle for Europe
by Earl Charles Spencer
Product Group: Book
Publisher: Cassell military (2005-06-09)
ISBN: 0304367044
EAN: 9780304367047
Dewy Decimal #: 940.2526
Paperback: 368 pages
Edition: New edition
SKU: B465-1025
Condition: New
Comments: In stock - Immediate despatch from an efficient and professional leading British bookselling firm.
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Customer Reviews
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Interesting and Enjoyable.
Rating  (5)
Date: 2008-02-27
1 out of 1 customers found this reveiw helpful
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.
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A Real Surprise!
Rating (5)
Date: 2007-09-01
3 out of 3 customers found this reveiw helpful
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).
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Surprisingly good.
Rating (5)
Date: 2007-07-26
11 out of 12 customers found this reveiw helpful
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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Everyone should read this book
Rating (5)
Date: 2007-02-01
10 out of 11 customers found this reveiw helpful
I knew surprising little about the great Duke of Marlborough and the battle of Blenheim. This book helped fill that gap in an interesting readable way. Spencer is correct in saying that Blenheim should rate alongside Waterloo and Agincourt but it doesnt, yet. This book should go someway to address that.
This book is a great read and a window in to the early 18th Century with good details about all the main players in this amazing time.
Read this book!
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A battlefield fit for Richard Sharpe!
Rating  (4)
Date: 2006-10-06
6 out of 6 customers found this reveiw helpful
I must confess to being particularly ignorant about this period of British history despite ploughing my way through Macauley's five volume opus (his rambling style of olde English bored me) but with little new on my favourite Napoleonic era I decided to delve a little further back in time. Too my surprise, Charles Spencer's interpretation of the battle of Blenhiem makes for compelling and enjoyable reading, and is a good point to start one's investigation of this era. I found his narrative reminiscent of Cornwell's style; racy, detailed, some what sarcastic in places and easy to follow. Quite addictive really. Reading through the campaign I was struck by how many famous Napoleonic battlefields were disputed earlier in history; it seems "old Europe" was indeed drenched in blood throughout the ages by one French tyrant after another. Spencer's work is highly creditable, well researched, rigourous and aimed squarley at the armchair reader. I look forward to further works in due time.
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