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Churchill’s Marlborough I: Genes Matter
Book number 18 of 2024
The older I get, the more I like nonfiction, especially history. One of my favorite historians is Winston Churchill. The first thing I read of his was A History of the English-Speaking Peoples, which I enjoyed so much that I next read his The Second World War, then The World Crisis – his account of the First World War. It’s fascinating to read history that is written by a major actor in it. It doesn’t hurt that Churchill is a terrific writer with a wicked sense of humor. I’m not the only one to recognize his talent – he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1953.
Marlborough I is the first of a four-volume biography of Churchill’s ancestor, John Churchill, first Duke of Marlborough (1650 – 1722). Apparently, a big reason for his taking on this huge project was to “clear the name” of Marlborough. The historian Thomas Babington Macaulay had written a biography of Marlborough that was very popular and extremely critical of the British soldier and statesman. Macauley doesn’t escape Winston Churchill’s withering contempt:
It is beyond our hopes to overtake Lord Macaulay. The grandeur and sweep of his story-telling style carries him swiftly along, and with every generation he enters new fields. We can only hope that Truth will follow swiftly enough to fasten the label “Liar” to his genteel coat-tails.
WINSTON S. CHURCHILL. Marlborough I (Kindle Locations 2140-2142). Delphi Classics. Kindle Edition.
The first third of Marlborough I is taken up with a lot of conjecture, because there simply isn’t much documentation of John Churchill’s early life. He is appointed as a page to one of King Charles II’s dukes, and he quickly makes a name for himself as a dashing young man who has integrity, relatively speaking, given the time of Charles II’s Bacchanalian court. He gets involved with Barbara Villiers, a mistress of the king, but once he meets Sarah Jennings, he woos her until they marry, and he remained devoted to her the rest of his life.
Marlborough manages to navigate the perilous political waters that were roiling England at this time. Here is where my ignorance of British history handicaps my full enjoyment of the book. Churchill assumes the reader is familiar with the various administrations, party politics, and machinations of the different factions that were competing during Charles II’s and James II’s reigns. I’m not, so I found myself turning to Wikipedia a lot. Who was Danby? Shrewsbury? Halifax? The Jacobites? I didn’t know; and Churchill doesn’t provide much background to these major figures and movements in British history. However, I still enjoyed learning about them on my own.
John Churchill slowly makes a name for himself as a military leader and strategist. He and Sarah become close friends with Princess Anne, who is the sister of Mary, the wife of William of Orange. When William becomes King of England in the Glorious Revolution of 1688, John Churchill finds favor with him after successfully tamping down James’ potential rebellion in Ireland. Unfortunately, William doesn’t think much of English generals, and he refuses to give Churchill any real command of forces out of fear that his Dutch generals might suffer in comparison.
William doesn’t really care that much about the British; his main concern is to build an alliance to challenge France’s Louis XIV. Winston Churchill is NOT a fan of the Sun King:
During the whole of his life Louis XIV was the curse and pest of Europe. No worse enemy of human freedom has ever appeared in the trappings of polite civilization. Insatiable appetite, cold, calculating ruthlessness, monumental conceit, presented themselves armed with fire and sword. The veneer of culture and good manners, of brilliant ceremonies and elaborate etiquette, only adds a heightening effect to the villainy of his life’s story.
WINSTON S. CHURCHILL. Marlborough I (Kindle Locations 3806-3809). Delphi Classics. Kindle Edition.
It should be noted that Churchill wrote those words in 1933 – before Hitler tried to conquer Europe himself!
As William continued to award honors and positions to his fellow Dutchmen, alienating his British subjects, John Churchill (Lord Marlborough) began publicly speaking out against him. Meanwhile, Queen Mary insisted that her sister, Princess Anne, get rid of Sarah as her lady-in-waiting. Anne refused. In early 1692, things came to a head, and William stripped Marlborough of all his offices and commands.
Marlborough remained in limbo while William authorized a disastrous invasion of France at Brest. The British forces sustained very heavy losses. Later historians alleged that Marlborough and other British nobles deliberately delayed the preparation of the invasion forces, allowing Louis XIV time to prepare for it. Winston Churchill makes a strong case that the documents this accusation is based upon were forged or made up.
Meanwhile, William’s wife, Queen Mary, died of smallpox, making Princess Anne the next in line for the British throne. Suddenly, she became popular in high society again, and William and Marlborough made an uneasy reconciliation. James and his Jacobite supporters tried to assassinate William, but the plot was discovered and the men involved arrested and imprisoned. One of them, John Fenwick, accused Marlborough and a few men who were close advisors of William of being involved in the plot, but no one believed him. Marlborough’s reputation and honor survived.
William III and Louis XIV made peace, and several other treaties gave Europe a ten-year breather. As Churchill notes, in 1699:
William was now at the height of his glory. He seemed about to outshine even the Sun King himself. In the east, in the north, and now in the south and west of Europe he seemed about to lay, after generations of religious, dynastic, and territorial wars, the foundations of a lasting peace for the whole world.
WINSTON S. CHURCHILL. Marlborough I (Kindle Locations 7294-7296). Delphi Classics. Kindle Edition.
Now that William and Marlborough were reconciled, William appointed Marlborough the governor of Princess Anne’s son, the very young Duke of Gloucester – keeping up with all these noble personages is something! By 1698, William was relying on Marlborough’s counsel more and more. When William traveled to Holland, Marlborough was one of nine lords given sovereign power. However, he had to perform a tricky balancing act: remaining loyal to his Tory party which was in conflict with William’s aims in Europe, while serving as a member of the royal court.
In 1700, the eleven-year-old Gloucester died of smallpox, throwing the British line of succession into confusion. Parliament passed the Act of Settlement, which made the House of Hanover the royal house. Meanwhile, Charles II of Spain died, and Louis XIV installed his grandson as king of Spain, destroying the balance of power. William realized he didn’t have many years left to rule, and he made Marlborough Commander-In-Chief of English forces in Holland. As Churchill observed, “The formation of the Grand Alliance had begun.”
Marlborough, authorized by William, concluded treaties with the states that remained opposed to France. In September, 1701, James II died, and Louis announced that he recognized James’ son as the rightful king of England. This arrogant declaration galvanized parliament, and William soon had all the financial support he needed to oppose Louis. In 1702, William’s horse threw him, he broke his collarbone, and not long after died. All the pieces were in place for the War of Spanish Succession – an even stronger France, with Spain on its side, was ready to overrun Holland. On Marlborough’s shoulders rested the job of leading the Alliance against an incredibly powerful foe.
That is where Marlborough I ends. A couple of final thoughts: First, an unexpected benefit of reading Winston Churchill is that the reader receives a course in English vocabulary. For example, how often do you see the word inexpugnable (it means impregnable)? That word, phlegmatic, obdurate, and puerilities all appear in the span of a few paragraphs.
Second, I have often wondered how Churchill seemed to instinctively comprehend – before anyone else – Hitler’s threat to European peace. After reading this first volume of his biography of Marlborough, it’s clear that Churchill’s understanding wasn’t instinctive but rather the result of his immense knowledge of history. He already knew how William III and Louis XIV had vied for supremacy in Europe at the turn of the eighteenth century, and how delicate the balance of power always is. He also recognized Britain’s inclination to turn inward as soon as peace is achieved:
The wars were over; their repressions were at an end. They rejoiced in peace and clamoured for freedom. The dangers were past; why should they ever return? Groaning under taxation, impatient of every restraint, the Commons plunged into a career of economy, disarmament, and constitutional assertiveness which was speedily followed by the greatest of the wars England had ever waged and the heaviest expenditure she had ever borne. This phase has often recurred in our history.
WINSTON S. CHURCHILL. Marlborough I (Kindle Locations 7301-7304). Delphi Classics. Kindle Edition.
As our current geopolitical situation heats up faster and faster, I wonder if there is anyone on the world’s stage with as much historical knowledge as Winston Churchill had in 1933. We certainly could use someone like him again.
Published in History
Exactly. And yes, there are people like him today, and as he was then, they are ignored.
The good part is right around the corner. Marlborough rope-a-dopes the French in the Netherlands. He then tiptoes about 250 miles and before his Dutch allies/minders know he’s gone, he and Prince Eugene of Savoy bust up the French and Bavarians at Blenheim.
Winston did keep an eye on his own legacy.
I had known those works of Winston Churchill existed, but have never read them. Your excellent summary convinces me it would be worth doing so.
It’s difficult for a colonial to keep track of all the dukes and lords. An educated Englishman imbibed them with his mother’s milk. Young Winston was a middling student. Much of his knowledge and style was the fruit of a Winston created course of self improvement undertaken while serving in the Army in India.
His father encouraged his interest in soldiering because he thought Winston too stupid for the law and politics.
That’s amazing. Proof that a person can accomplish practically anything if he works hard enough.
By coincidence, I just started the audio version of Marlborough. I am two hours into a 61-hour commitment. It is a period of history I have always tended to gloss over. I have had spates of obsession with the High Middle Ages and Rennaisance, the Tudors… but then I kinda wander ahead into the Seven Years War, the revolutions here and in France, and the Napoleonic Wars. The high-level scan of the wars, politics, and ever-shifting alliances in the seventeenth century have always seemed like a pointless muddle.
The eloquence of Churchill is almost melodic when read aloud. It is a pleasure.
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I bet it is!
Last night I added Marlborough: His Life and Times to my Audible queue. 81 hours for all four volumes. Maybe your narrator reads faster than this one (Sean Barrett)?
Maybe that is a function of setting the speed a little higher–1.3. I am used to listening fast.
A while back I read William Manchester’s three-volume biography of Churchill. It struck me that if you look at Churchill’s whole life, and especially at how he made a living, it would be correct to say that he was primarily a writer, and he dabbled in politics on the side.
Might be a good idea. I haven’t ever done that with an Audible book, but this may be a good time to start. I find myself doing it often on YouTube these days.
Winston Spencer Churchill was a Spencer. He was a distant patrilineal cousin of Princess Diana. The First Duke of Marlborough, John Churchill, was survived by two daughters, no sons. Something unusual about his titles was that they could be passed down to his daughters and to his grandsons through there. His eldest daughter married Francis Godolphin, Earl of Godolphin, if I remember. She became the Second Duchess of Marlborough (in her own right). Her only son died before she did. Thus, it went to her younger sister, who also predeceased her. The third duke was a Spencer, the son of that younger daughter of the first duke.
I think it was the fifth duke, who was his grandson, who managed to lose all of the family money. He changed his name to add Churchill to get sympathy and try to help use his ancestor to help get him through the family crisis.
Winston Spencer Churchill was one of his direct descendants. His grandfather was one of the Dukes of Marlborough. His father was Lord Randolph (Spencer) Churchill. When you see his name, Spencer is part of his last name, not a middle name.
You know why Winston Churchill started using Spencer? It was to differentiate himself from Winston Churchill, the American writer.
Winston Churchill wrote a equally courteous letter to Winston Churchill agreeing to his proposal, adding that he would have used his middle name if he had had one.
I love learning little historical facts like this. Thanks for sharing, @Percival!
He was remarkably courteous. Except when it counted.
Percival? 😜
Or to Lady Astor.
”Winston, if you were my husband, I would put poison in your tea.”
”Madame, if you were my wife, I’d drink it.”
Two points.
First, it’s a treat because nobody writes like that today. And Churchill was insistent short Anglo Saxon words had the most impact.
Second, even when he was out of favor, a Churchill speech put parliamentary butts in seats. He rehearsed his speeches over and over. No doubt he spoke out loud almost everything he wrote.
I would say, though, that heredity matters more than genes. (Not that there isn’t some overlap.)
I think Churchill would agree.
Churchill was enveloped in his interests (history, politics, the English language, polo, soldiering) and disinterested in mathematics, science, Latin and Greek. Churchill was not a good fit for the curriculum of English public schools.
His academic record was so mediocre he required extensive and expensive tutoring, to pass the entrance exam for the British military academy. But at Sandhurst, he demonstrated exceptional talents in practical subjects like leadership, tactics and horsemanship.
Turning back to Lord Randolph. Churchill earned a ration of fatherly disappointment when he turned down the infantry commission his father had used influence to arrange. He opted for a commission in a cavalry regiment. Randolph was also bent out of shape because the cavalry was the most expensive branch.
That was how Preston Sturges used to write, out loud.
More remarkably, Winston passed the Sandhurst exam by luck (or more probably divine providence). He knew that the exam would feature a question about one of the commonwealth nations. To prepare for his 3rd, and last try, he decided that rather than try to study about all the commonwealth nations, he would draw a name out of a hat and study intensively about that one country. He drew New Zealand out of the hat & proceeded to study about it. As fortune would have it the exam the next day was on New Zealand.
“Winston wrote and passed his “preliminary.” He had studied hard for it but he later attributed his success to a piece of good luck. “We knew that among other questions we should be asked to draw from memory a map of some country or other. The night before by way of final preparation I put the names of all the maps in the atlas into a hat and drew out New Zealand. I applied my good memory to the geography of that Dominion. Sure enough the first question in the paper was: ‘Draw a map of New Zealand.’ This was what is called at Monte Carlo an en plein, and I ought to have been paid thirty-five times my stake. However, I certainly got paid very high marks for my paper.”
He had other good luck: this was the last Sandhurst preliminary in which Latin was optional and the essay question was on the American Civil War, a topic he had discussed numerous times with his mother” [his mother was American]
https://winstonchurchill.org/the-life-of-churchill/child/1886-1890/autumn-1890-age-16/
One of my all-time favorite movie writer/directors!