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Rating: 
Summary: Fifty Years of War
Review: Louis XIV engaged in nearly constant warfare from 1664 to 1714. His wars covered the face of Europe from Ireland to Italy. The great commanders of the Age, Marlborough, Vauban, Turenne, Conde, Luxembourg and Eugene all crossed the stage of Louis' many wars. This is a lot of history to compress into one volume. John Lynn does an admirable job of surveying the different wars and keeping track of all the campaigns that shaped these wars. He writes clearly and economically. One finishes the book having a better understanding of Louis' grand strategic vision.
This is not a book for someone wanting to learn more about the great commanders of the Age or the details of specific campaigns or battles. This is a book about war, writ large. In my opinion, the value of this book for the general reading public of military history is that it places the accomplishments of Frederick the Great and later Napoleon into a better context. To understand why they were such revolutionaries, it is important to place them in contrast to an era where war was seen as process and the decisive moment did not exist.
Rating:
Summary: Fifty Years of War
Review: Louis XIV engaged in nearly constant warfare from 1664 to 1714. His wars covered the face of Europe from Ireland to Italy. The great commanders of the Age, Marlborough, Vauban, Turenne, Conde, Luxembourg and Eugene all crossed the stage of Louis' many wars. This is a lot of history to compress into one volume. John Lynn does an admirable job of surveying the different wars and keeping track of all the campaigns that shaped these wars. He writes clearly and economically. One finishes the book having a better understanding of Louis' grand strategic vision.
This is not a book for someone wanting to learn more about the great commanders of the Age or the details of specific campaigns or battles. This is a book about war, writ large. In my opinion, the value of this book for the general reading public of military history is that it places the accomplishments of Frederick the Great and later Napoleon into a better context. To understand why they were such revolutionaries, it is important to place them in contrast to an era where war was seen as process and the decisive moment did not exist.
Rating:
Summary: L'etat est moi
Review: Measured simply by the length of the conflicts, Louis XIV was the most war-like French leader of all time, easily eclipsing Napoleon. He was also more successful, if you go by the "Frederick of Prussia" test - compare the map of his country before he came to power with the map after he left, and you will see lasting expansion and consolidation. The world of Louis takes us to the crises of the Fronde, the Wars of Devolution, the Nine Years War, and the War of Spanish Succession, and treats us to the genius of Turenne and Conde. It's now fashionable to write off the pre-Napoleonic period of military history, based as it was on "positional warfare" and long sieges, but Lynn is good enough to buck the trend - and thankfully so, for modern readers would never have come across the genius of Vauban, Louis's veteran engineer and probably the greatest general of the era. This would have received five stars, but loses one for prose style. But - on the plus side - the history is impeccable, the coverage is thorough and the maps are superb.
Rating: 
Summary: Mediocre and partisan
Review: No doubt a work in English on the wars of Louis XIV from the point of view of the French is a good thing. And no doubt something to correct the Marlborough-and-Eugene worship evident in previous accounts is called for. But it does no good simply to assert that Louis' victories were greater, and defeats lesser, than others have said. Some standard of comparison is necessary for consistent judgement, and is missing here. The exposition is generally competent, though unexciting; insights are not very deep. The period still awaits a good treatment.
Rating:
Summary: Mediocre and partisan
Review: No doubt a work in English on the wars of Louis XIV from the point of view of the French is a good thing. And no doubt something to correct the Marlborough-and-Eugene worship evident in previous accounts is called for. But it does no good simply to assert that Louis' victories were greater, and defeats lesser, than others have said. Some standard of comparison is necessary for consistent judgement, and is missing here. The exposition is generally competent, though unexciting; insights are not very deep. The period still awaits a good treatment.
Rating:
Summary: War-as-process
Review: Since the wars of Louis XIV have not been covered comprehensively in English, this volume by a renowned historian is particularly welcome. In this work, John Lynn combines a succinct, but thorough blow-by-blow narrative account of the wars fought by Louis XIV with a cogent historical analysis that places these conflicts in their proper perspective. Lynn's main hypothesis differs from some other historians who view Louis XIV as a would-be European conqueror intent on endless wars of conquest. Rather, Lynn regards Louis' wars as essentially defensive after achieving limited territorial gains in Holland after 1675. Lynn explains these conflicts as wars-as-process that rather than seeking to annihilate enemy armies or achieve decisive victories, sought lesser objectives like extorting taxes from occupied lands, deciding dynastic issues or achieving defensible borders for France. Inevitably Louis XIV sought short wars against isolated opponents, but the indecisive nature of 18th Century conflict led to protracted, attritional struggles against coalitions. The Wars of Louis XIV consists of eight chapters, beginning with a background chapter on European conflict in 1495-1661. Two other excellent opening chapters cover French strategic concepts in this period as well as the strength and methods of the French army and navy. The next two chapters cover the relatively painless War of Devolution and the Dutch War, which were fought to achieve martial Gloire for Louis after he came to the throne. At relatively low cost, Louis added to his territory and seemed to confirm the use of violence as a useful tool of statecraft. The fifth chapter covers violence and state policy, specifically the so-called "reunions" which were coercive annexations of adjacent territory similar to Hitler's "Anschluss" with Austria, and violent suppression of the Protestant minority in France. The sixth and seventh chapters - which comprise nearly half the book - cover the fateful Nine Years War and the War of the Spanish Succession. Although France did well militarily in the first conflict, it was financially exhausting to fight protracted attritional struggles against coalitions. In the last war, fought for dynastic reasons, the French did fairly well until Marlborough showed up in 1704. Marlborough changed the slow operational tempo - typically one big siege attempted per season - and sought to fight big battles. He smashed the French at Blenheim and Ramillies, and succeeded in rolling back most of Louis' gains over the past 20 years. Nevertheless, Louis outlasted his enemies and eventually managed to achieve a favorable peace. The final chapter consists of an analysis of all of Louis' wars and attempts to place them in proper historical perspective. Overall, this work is excellent - it is well-written, well-researched and provides fresh insight into a long-neglected subject. Students of Napoleonic warfare would be well-advised to read this book as background on the development of French doctrine (particularly a preference for fortifications) and strategy in pre-Revolutionary France. The chapters that cover the wars are sub-divided into sections on each year, which are cover the different fronts sequentially. The only flaw is this volume is the lack of decent maps; many important towns mentioned in the text are not depicted in the simple sketch maps nor are the movement of armies depicted. Nor is there a map of the Spanish theater of war, which was particularly important in the last two wars. It is particularly difficult to follow gains and losses of towns in the main battle front of Flanders, and the author should have provided at least a summary map to depict major territorial changes in each war. Readers should keep a good atlas handy in order to follow the campaigns. Although France was able to achieve some strategic gains in these wars of Louis XIV, the main military legacy of the Sun King was near financial bankruptcy. John Lynn concludes, "for fifty years, French armies had been strong enough to stand against coalitions of all the other great powers. But the treaties of Utrecht, Rastatt, and Baden marked a watershed in international relations. No longer could France maintain its former dominance. This reality reflected not only the relative decline of France, but the increased power of other European states."
Rating:
Summary: War-as-process
Review: Since the wars of Louis XIV have not been covered comprehensively in English, this volume by a renowned historian is particularly welcome. In this work, John Lynn combines a succinct, but thorough blow-by-blow narrative account of the wars fought by Louis XIV with a cogent historical analysis that places these conflicts in their proper perspective. Lynn's main hypothesis differs from some other historians who view Louis XIV as a would-be European conqueror intent on endless wars of conquest. Rather, Lynn regards Louis' wars as essentially defensive after achieving limited territorial gains in Holland after 1675. Lynn explains these conflicts as wars-as-process that rather than seeking to annihilate enemy armies or achieve decisive victories, sought lesser objectives like extorting taxes from occupied lands, deciding dynastic issues or achieving defensible borders for France. Inevitably Louis XIV sought short wars against isolated opponents, but the indecisive nature of 18th Century conflict led to protracted, attritional struggles against coalitions. The Wars of Louis XIV consists of eight chapters, beginning with a background chapter on European conflict in 1495-1661. Two other excellent opening chapters cover French strategic concepts in this period as well as the strength and methods of the French army and navy. The next two chapters cover the relatively painless War of Devolution and the Dutch War, which were fought to achieve martial Gloire for Louis after he came to the throne. At relatively low cost, Louis added to his territory and seemed to confirm the use of violence as a useful tool of statecraft. The fifth chapter covers violence and state policy, specifically the so-called "reunions" which were coercive annexations of adjacent territory similar to Hitler's "Anschluss" with Austria, and violent suppression of the Protestant minority in France. The sixth and seventh chapters - which comprise nearly half the book - cover the fateful Nine Years War and the War of the Spanish Succession. Although France did well militarily in the first conflict, it was financially exhausting to fight protracted attritional struggles against coalitions. In the last war, fought for dynastic reasons, the French did fairly well until Marlborough showed up in 1704. Marlborough changed the slow operational tempo - typically one big siege attempted per season - and sought to fight big battles. He smashed the French at Blenheim and Ramillies, and succeeded in rolling back most of Louis' gains over the past 20 years. Nevertheless, Louis outlasted his enemies and eventually managed to achieve a favorable peace. The final chapter consists of an analysis of all of Louis' wars and attempts to place them in proper historical perspective. Overall, this work is excellent - it is well-written, well-researched and provides fresh insight into a long-neglected subject. Students of Napoleonic warfare would be well-advised to read this book as background on the development of French doctrine (particularly a preference for fortifications) and strategy in pre-Revolutionary France. The chapters that cover the wars are sub-divided into sections on each year, which are cover the different fronts sequentially. The only flaw is this volume is the lack of decent maps; many important towns mentioned in the text are not depicted in the simple sketch maps nor are the movement of armies depicted. Nor is there a map of the Spanish theater of war, which was particularly important in the last two wars. It is particularly difficult to follow gains and losses of towns in the main battle front of Flanders, and the author should have provided at least a summary map to depict major territorial changes in each war. Readers should keep a good atlas handy in order to follow the campaigns. Although France was able to achieve some strategic gains in these wars of Louis XIV, the main military legacy of the Sun King was near financial bankruptcy. John Lynn concludes, "for fifty years, French armies had been strong enough to stand against coalitions of all the other great powers. But the treaties of Utrecht, Rastatt, and Baden marked a watershed in international relations. No longer could France maintain its former dominance. This reality reflected not only the relative decline of France, but the increased power of other European states."
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