"General History of the War Of Spanish Succession" Topic

Is there a general history of the entire war? Seems like most of the books I have are about Marlborough or Blenheim.

That's why for years I thought the French lost the war.

In the long run, they did. The ruinous debt led to John Law and the Mississippi Company fiasco and the collapse of French colonialism generally. Putting a cadet branch of the family on a rotting throne was small compensation.

Its a fair question though, there were many fronts and years where there was no Corporal John and these are badly served by English speaking histories.

Churchill's "Marlborough His Life and Times" covers the whole war, despite its title. You should get an unabridged edition, however. There are no OOBs, etc., but it is a good introduction.

I'd recommend the Wars of Louis XIV by John Lynn. It covers all of Louis' wars and I think that helps understand what was going on in a better light than other books I've read.

Churchill's book on Marlborough is fun. Churchill is a bit of a fanboy (why wouldn't he be) but his writing style is just absolutely terrific. I don't think he does a terribly good job of anything other than the English perspective on the war, but he does an excellent job of putting what happened in the war on the continent into an overall English context.

I'd really like to read something good from the Dutch perspective but I don't have any starting points there.

J.A.F. de Jongste and A.J. Veenendaal edited "Anthonie Heinsius and the Dutch Republic 1688-1720: Politics, War, and Finance" which was published by the "Instituut voor Nederlandse Geschiedenis" [Institute for Netherlander History] in 2002, ISBN 90-5216-123-2.
Anthonie (or Antonius) Heinsius was the Grand Pensionary of Holland [and thereby the most powerful man in the Estates-General of the Netherlands] from 1689 to his death in 1720, and was key to organising their opposition to French expansionism.
Inter-library loan time- my copy came from the university of Auckland [I'm in New Zealand] and I'm sure that there are copies in the USA.

I recommend Jean de la Colonie's memoirs "The Chronicles of an Old Campaigner : 1692-1717". They are available as a pdf download from the Internet Archive here – link

PDF link

He was a French officer serving, initially with the Bavarians, against "Milord Marlborough" as a seige expert, a captain of dragoons and later commander of grenadiers. He fought at the Schellenberg, Ramillies, Oudenarde and Malplaquet as well as numerous seige operations and skirmishes. His eye witness accounts make wonderful reading and the memoirs give plenty of background information on the war as well as the smaller details of daily life and operations.

Battles, duels, disguises, escapes, mysterious beautiful countesses and even a couple of Miracles make this the "Princess Bride" of the WSS! Very readable and heartily recommended. Enjoy :o)

p.s. There's a useful Dutch website here – spanishsuccession.nl

Calmarac,
Thanks for for the recommendation of Colonie, read the first chapter on line and immediately ordered a copy from Amazon. Almost reads like a Dumas Classic. I am reading "Great and Glorious Days" and I realize that Colonie is often quoted in that book. Thanks again. As to a general history I guess there isn't one in English, too bad, once again I find myself wishing I was multilingual!

Although not a comprehensive history per se, you might also consider:

BATTLES FOR THE SPANISH SUCCESSION 8.5x11, brief accounts of many battles in Flanders, Spain, and Northern Italy, b/w maps.1 vol, 60 pgs 1997 UK, NEW-softcover, facsimile reprint $22.00 USD

Dennis from OMM
onmilitarymatters.com