Customer Reviews
A fine overview of the great man - By: J. P. Mowatt, 06 Jul 2008 
A fine overview of the life of Marlborough with some interesting details & fascinating insights. This may not be the definitive book on Marlborough (I think that honour still lays with Churchill's 3 volume history of his illustrious ancestor) but it would serve as a useful companion to the Churchill series giving some much needed balance to Churchill's occasionallly one sided view.
The book has a minor but niggling weakness in that the title, 'England's Fragile Genius' seems to have little connection with the contents. It mentions his headaches & various illnesses but he doesn't seem to be portrayed as particularly fragile.
The major strength of this book is Holmes descriptive capabilities. I've previously read descriptions of the Battle of Sedgemoor & been quite baffled but Richard Holmes made it quite clear what the movements of troops meant to the outcome of the battle & gave some indication as to where mistakes were made & how each side capitalised on the mistakes or misfortune of the other.
A fine book - a good overview & a sound objective analysis of the life of the first Duke of Marlborough.
Well worth a look - By: Big Jim, 23 May 2008 
Yet another great biography of a great man that I have read in the past few weeks. There must be something in the water that encourages authors to turn these out!
This a very readable & informative biography of someone who is possibly not as well known or appreciated as perhaps he should be as he was directly & indirectly responsible for much of the Europe we see today, so his legacy truly lives on. The fact that he is probably best known as an ancestor of Winston Churchill & Princess Diana does him a great disservice as his life story is so remarkable that in the hands of such an experienced & skillful biographer as Mr Holmes it fairly leaps from the page, & makes this book, (cliche alert!) a real page turner...sorry but it's true. Although the author's expertise is towards military history, he does touch on the importance of his personal relationships & political machinations that went on around him, but not in as great depth. Hibbert's book "The Marlboroughs" which has more detail on his relationship with his wife Sarah & her equallly remarkable story is probably as good a book as any for that.
By alll accounts Marlborough should be held in as high esteem as Nelson & Wellington in the English/British psyche, & this book goes a good way to supporting that thesis.
