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Good Book!

Important Work Available Again At Last!While these works may be older, and more recent work has been done on Burgundy, Vaughan's scholarship is still first-rate. A must for the bookshelf of anyone interested in Valois Burgundy, or Northern Europe in the late 14th and 15th centuries.


Rich content of protocols

From Fairy Tale to Reality

Wild About HarryHere he is in all his glory. Is he the brave knight and right hand of the king? Is he the handsome party boy with a taste for downmarket girls? Is he the introspective, soul searching old author of religious musings?
The answer is YES, Harry is all that and MORE!
Read all about Harry, the women, the madness, and the music in this searing Expose which dares to rip the lid off of the royals' best kept secret!


it makes me feel well

Defenseless No More!

Fascinating Eyewitness Account of Africa in the 90's

ExcellentIt's not difficult to see why Sir Winston admired John. In his own day Marlborough was the greatest Englishman, the best general, and the finest diplomat of Europe. His spectacular victory at Blenheim was one of the world's most significant. He fought many battles; invincible, he won them all. For this he was granted a magnificent home named the Blenheim Palace (for its size to call it anything else would be a misnomer) - in which Sir Winston himself was later born. Like his younger contemporary Frederick the Great (one of my heroes), Marlborough was truly impressive in all aspects of warmaking: strategy, tactics, field command, logistics, diplomacy, personnel, intelligence. Like Frederick he was personally and physically brave (if a little LESS reckless). And like Frederick he had to run a country at the same time. In one way though Marlborough was even greater than Frederick - he never lost a battle.
It is true that without Prince Eugene, Marlborough would not have succeeded the way he did. But his prowess on the battlefield should rank him among the greatest commanders in history.
Striking was Marlborough's dependence on several women in his life, to whom he owed his entire career: his own sister, who got him his first job (as a lowly page to the Prince of Wales); the Duchess of Cleveland, who lavished money on him for his exceptional "services"; Sarah Jennings, his wife, who rose from equally humble background to be politically important; and Queen Anne, who made him Duke and head of the English army. A genius in war, he was also lucky in love. Stunningly handsome, he matched his looks with flawless manners plus sparkling intelligence; not surprisingly his charm was irresistible to women (and, as has been pointed out, men too). Yet he had a happy marriage. (His wife, a tremendous beauty in her own right, lived in constant if unfounded fear of his infidelity. Though the youthful Marlborough had a bastard daughter with Cleveland, he was no Casanova in married life.)
That Marlborough was a genius and his life a phenomenal success story, no one can deny. But in the interests of family loyalty as well as personal devotion Sir Winston was willing to turn a blind eye to some of Marlborough's faults: his insatiable financial greed, his manipulativeness, his tightfistedness with money, his suspect honesty, his all-consuming ambitions, his inability to write in literate English. But as I am a fan of Marlborough's myself, I do not blame Sir Winston. I only wish to add that his one-sided account, though the best, does not provide a complete picture.
It's puzzling to me how with increasing age, fame and fortune Marlborough's thick skin, which had served him well in his youth, got thinner and thinner, until he was almost destroyed by his sensitivity to criticisms. Too bad, because his political enemies were so unworthy compared to him. A ruthless man (though not necessarily a Stalin) would have been aggressive and hounded his enemies to THEIR death, but Marlborough lacked this killer instinct......all the stranger for a soldier! Instead he gave himself a stroke and that was the end of his career.
No admirer of Sir Winston's - I dislike him - I nonetheless recommend this book very highly. It is extremely well-written. Be sure to get both volumes. And pay particular attention to the military campaigns - these are true masterpieces of historical writing. If you must choose, however, get vol.1 - it has the best actions, including the high points of his career: marriage to Sarah, the meteoric rise, the Garter, Blenheim, the Dukedom. The chapter entitled "Avarice and Charm" - two aspects of his personality - is particularly interesting.
Not for nothing did Sir Winston win the Nobel Prize for Literature, and by common consent "Marlborough" was his best work.


Posterity Press hits again!Gettysburg to a new climax and the Union Army of the Potomac's new commander
to lincolnesque heights. John Merriam has combined historic personalities
with a panoply of fictional characters such as spying slaves and prostitute
nurses to spin an ingenious yarn. What if Meade completely obliterated Lee's forces at Gettysburg?What if, indeed. The answer is detailed, plausible and clever, delivered with a snappy style and enough suspense to keep the pages turning.