In the summer of 1704, French conquest seemed inevitable. In this bestselling history, Charles Spencer traces the story of how it was prevented.

This is an epic history of how, as Louis the Great’s armies threatened total domination of Europe, poised to extend their frontier and install a French prince on the throne of Spain, two men came together with a daring plan to shut him down.

John Churchill, Duke of Malborough masterminded the campaign, while Prince Eugène of Savoy engineered a way to surprise the French invaders inside Germany. Their work heralded a terrific clash, the Battle of Blenheim, where the hitherto unbeaten French were met with more than they bargained for, and Europe’s fate hung in the balance.

In compelling, page-turning history, Charles Spencer unfolds the drama from the frontlines with the soldiers to the deliberations of kings and princes whose nations were in peril.