"This is an extremely well-researched, well-written and iconoclastic book that makes an important, if controversial argument. . . . This book is a monument to scholarship."—Steve Pincus, Yale University
~Steve Pincus
“[Webb] presents a splendid panorama of events on both sides of the Atlantic during a crucial era. . . . The result is a signal contribution to our understanding of the making and workings of early 18th-century empire.”—Richard Johnson, University of Washington
~Richard Johnson
"Readers will be surprised to learn just how much of our early history was shaped by none other than the great ancestor of Winston Churchill, the Duke of Marlborough, in a work that wears its erudition lightly, but illuminates yet another way in which the Atlantic Ocean was more bridge than barrier between the Old World and the New. Webb weaves a compelling account of the relationships between 18th-century strategy, patronage, and colonial politics. And he does so with a shrewd eye and sardonic wit."—Eliot A. Cohen, author of Conquered into Liberty: Two Centuries of Battles along the Great Warpath that Made the American Way of War
~Eliot A. Cohen
“[A] brilliant, unconventional work . . . there's no denying the importance of this book or its likely appeal to readers interested in British, imperial, military, classic, top-down history.”—Publishers Weekly
~Publishers Weekly
“Masterful . . . Stephen Saunders Webb has made us see a great man in an even greater light.” —Thomas Donnelly, Weekly Standard
~Thomas Donnelly, The Weekly Standard
"Webb makes a valuable contribution by placing the political history of the American colonies in an Atlantic context."—T. H. Breen, Times Literary Supplement,
