Many books have been written about the 1st Duke of Marlborough's famous victories, but none of the previous studies has really concentrated on how the warfare was perceived by the men and women who took part - those who experienced the action at first hand.

James Falkner has brought together a vivid selection of contemporary accounts of every aspect of the war to create a panoramic yet minutely detailed picture of those years of turmoil. The story is told through memoirs, letters, official documents, despatches, newspaper reports and eyewitness testimony from the French and Allied sides of the conflict. His linking narrative provides a penetrating analysis of the strategy and tactics of warfare at the time.