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Louis XIV's Marshals of France
by
James Falkner
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This is a book that I have been waiting to read for a very long time. Out of these Marshals of France I have only seen in English one biography of Turenne and another, done by this author, on Vauban. The author has opened up a large window on the wars of Marlborough by his various books on the subject. It is true that he did pen the book about Vauban, but other than that he has usually written about the English history of the War of the Spanish Succession.
The book gives us small biographies of these Marshals:
Turenne
de Fabert
de Créquy
Luxembourg
Catinat
Boufflers
Villeroi
Vendôme
Villars
Vauban
Berwick
The history in the book goes from before Louis XIV's childhood, and the Fronde, to the first years of Louis XV's reign. These men have a large part in the growth of France during the Sun King's reign. They run the gamut of being the children of simple folk to the illegitimate son of a king. The Fitz part of Berwick's name Fitz-James denoted at the time a child from the wrong side of the sheets, much like the name Snow in GOT.
The book also comes with 24 plates. These are of the 12 Marshals, and a further 12 are for other people who make up a large part of the Marshals' lives.
The lives of the Marshals are shown during their glory years and their not-so-great years. Marshal Tallard was not ostracized after his return from captivity after his self-inflicted debacle at Blenheim. Quite the contrary, he was held in high regard by Louis XIV after his return. Marshal Luxembourg went from pariah to heights of glory after his imprisonment during 'The Affair of the Poisons' (If you have not read about it, you should. It brings a whole new light on the Sun King's reign.). These are just two samples of what you will find in the book.
There are only two things that I find upsetting/missing in this book. The first is that at 239 pages it is much too short. This book really needs to be a tome in length to give us all the information about these great men. The second is a technicality that I was hoping the book would find a way around. I have never found a biography of the Grande Conde in English. The technicality is that he was a Prince of Blood and therefore had no need of the title of Marshal to command armies for Louis XIV. He is shown during some of the other Marshal's lives but way too fleetingly for my taste.
The author has done a spectacular job of helping to close the void or rend the veil that has hidden the Marshals of Louis XIV. These Marshals are a very large part of the history of Louis XIV's reign. While it is true that Louis did at times take the field with his armies, he never deluded himself as to who was actually in charge on the field of battle. Thank you, Mr. Falkner for this much needed glimpse into the French side of these conflicts. Thank you also, to Casemate Publishers for allowing me to review this excellent title.
Robert
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