SOURCE: A review of Marlborough: His Life and Times, in English Historical Review, Vol. 49, No. 196, October 1934, pp. 715-20.

In the following review, Lodge finds the first volume of Churchill's biography of Marlborough to propose unpopular and somewhat naive explications of historical and biographical events.

The first volume of Mr. Churchill's long-expected study of Marlborough [Marlborough, His Life and Times] has appeared in imposing panoply, a handsome cover, 35 illustrations, 3 facsimiles of documents, 14 maps and plans, 2 appendixes, and a bibliography. There is a general consensus that he has exceptional qualifications for the task. He has had a full and varied experience of political life, and no one could be better fitted to assess and expound Marlborough's relations with the political parties of his time. He is familiar with both military and naval problems, and he has disclosed the unfamiliar fact that Marlborough's first battle was fought at sea. He has...