Henri Pigaillem

The French series "Les Grandes Batailles" offers summary accounts of military campaigns, usually with some sort of French involvement and from a decidedly French angle ("nos armes"). The subtitle of this book about the battle of Blenheim manages to sandwich Marlborough between Prince Eugene (of French-Italian origin) and the France of Louis XIV. In reality, the battle was the result of a struggle between Austria and Bavaria, both of which called on the support of their allies. While the Allied success prevented a knock-out of the Austrians, France (despite a stupendous loss in cavalry) retained a fearful capacity for war. Thus, the decisive victory did not prevent another decade of war.

Pigaillem's account focuses on the political events that led to campaign (3 chapters, 50 pages). The campaign itself with Marlborough's masterful logistics from Belgium to Bavaria is told in only 20 pages. The battle is told in three chapters (25 pages). The final two chapters not only offer an analysis of the battle but a short account up to the end of the war (including battle sketches of both Malplaquet and Denain, the latter incidentally another title in the same series). Approaching the topic in the form of a survey is both a strength and a weakness, depending on a reader's expectation. The weakest part are the maps which are mediocre copies out of older historians' books and a too heavily summarized order of battle. Read it for the political and diplomatic parts.… (mer)