ABSTRACT
The two Marlboroughs have received good coverage in recent years. Ophelia Field, The Favourite: Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough (2002) provides a wellbalanced assessment of Queen Anne’s favourite, which nevertheless does not entirely replace Frances Harris, A Passion for Government: The Life of Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough (1991). Christopher Hibbert, The Marlboroughs: John and Sarah Churchill, 1650-1744 (2001) produces a highly readable survey of their lives; while J.R. Jones, Marlborough (Cambridge, 1993) offers a concise introduction to the duke’s opportunist rise, his decisive role in the 1688 Revolution and his dramatic fall. Marlborough’s military prowess is well covered in C. Barnett, Marlborough (1976) and David Chandler, Marlborough as a Military Commander (1979).
