Lord Churchill's Coup: The Anglo-American Empire and the Glorious Revolution Reconsidered

Continuing the provocative reappraisal of the Anglo-American empire last explored in his 1676: The End of American Independence (LJ 5/15/84), Webb argues that there was no ""Glorious Revolution""; what occurred in 1688 was a military coup led by John Churchill (later duke of Marlborough). Webb's insistence that parliament and the colonial assemblies were bit players in this struggle is unconvincing; his iconoclasm at times leads to annoying overstatement, e.g., he labels Louis XIV the ""French Hitler."" The strengths of his very interesting book are its well-documented demonstration of personal and institutional ties among political and military leaders throughout the empire, the attention it focuses on the military's role in the revolution, and Webb's argument that Britain and its colonies must be studied side by side. For informed readers and scholars.-William B. Robison, Southeastern Louisana Univ., Hammond