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In 1709, after eight years of war, France was on her knees. There
was not enough money left in the treasury to pay, equip or feed the
army and a bad harvest led to starvation throughout the kingdom.
Circumstances had worsened to the point that King Louis XIV was
forced to offer to end the War of Spanish Succession on humiliating
terms for his country. However, the allied powers - Britain, the
Dutch Republic and the Holy Roman Empire - refused Louis' offer,
believing that one more successful campaign would utterly destroy
French power. This book examines the campaign of 1709, culminating
in the battle of Malplaquet, which would prove Louis' enemies
disastrously wrong. Led by the Duke of Marlborough and Prince
Eugene of Savoy, the allied armies achieved a tactical victory -
but it was a hollow one. The allies suffered 23,000 casualties to
the French 11,000 in what was the bloodiest battle of the 18th
century. The scale of casualties shocked Europe and led to a
reversal of fortunes, with the dismissal of Marlborough and a newly
confident King Louis resolving to fight on. When the war finally
ended, it did so on terms favourable to France. In this illustrated
title, Simon MacDowall examines the campaign in full and shows how,
though it is generally accepted that Marlborough was never
defeated, the Battle of Malplaquet was ultimately a French
strategic victory.
The battle of the Catalaunian Fields saw two massive, powerful
empires square up in a conflict that was to shape the course of
Eurasian history forever. For despite the Roman victory, the Roman
Empire would not survive for more than 15 years following the
battle, whilst the Huns, shattered and demoralized, would meet
their downfall against a coalition of German tribes soon after.
This book, using revealing bird's-eye-views of the plains of
Champagne and detailed illustrations of the opposing warriors in
the midst of desperate combat, describes the fighting at the
Catalaunian Fields and reveals the broader campaign of Hunnic
incursion that led up to it. Drawing on the latest research, Simon
MacDowall reveals the shocking intensity and appalling casualties
of the battle, whilst assessing the wider significance and
consequences of the campaign.
In the late 4th century, pressure from the Huns forced the Goths to
cross the Danube into the Roman Empire. The resultant Battle of
Adrianople in 378 was one of Rome s greatest defeats. Both western
(Visigoth) and eastern (Ostrogoth) branches of the Goths had a
complex relationship with the Romans, sometimes fighting as their
allies against other barbarian interlopers but carving out their
own kingdoms in the process. Under Alaric the Visigoths sacked Rome
itself in 410 and went on to establish a kingdom in Gaul (France).
They helped the Romans defeat the Hunnic invasion of Gaul at
Chalons in 451 but continued to expand at Roman expense. Defeated
by the Franks they then took Spain from the Vandals. The Ostrogoths
had a similar relationship with the Eastern Roman Empire before
eventually conquering Italy. Adrianople, the events of 410 and the
Ostrogoths long war with Belisarius, including the Siege of Rome,
are among the campaigns and battles Simon MacDowall narrates in
detail. He analyses the arms and contrasting fighting styles of the
Ostro- and Visi- Goths and evaluates their effectiveness against
the Romans.
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