Marshal of France; The Life and Times of Maurice, Comte de Saxe [1696-1750]

Chicago: Rand McNally & Company, 1962. First U.S. Edition, presumed first printing. Hardcover. Fair. xiv, [2], 300, [4] pages. Endpaper map. Ex-library copy with the usual library markings. Cover worn, soiled and scuffed. Includes Prologue, Epilogue, Bibliography, Notes and References, and Index. Also includes 9 black and white illustrations; 3 tables; and 8 figures. This is the first comprehensive biography of the Comte de Saxe. The author's interest in Saxe stems from the fact that he led a life that was notably varied and universal, and which touched the heights and depths of human experience. Few men have lived as fully as Maurice, Comte de Saxe. His life is by turns bizarre, comic, touching, and tragic--but always compelling. Jon Ewbank Manchip White (22 June 1924 - July 31, 2013) was the Welsh American author of more than thirty books of non-fiction and fiction, including Marshal of France, The Last Race, Nightclimber, Death By Dreaming, Solo Goya, and his final novel, Rawlins White: Patriot to Heaven, published in 2011. White was also the author of a number of plays, teleplays, screenplays and volumes of short stories and poetry. Throughout his film and television career, White was a prolific writer of novels and nonfiction. In 1967 moved to the United States and become writer-in-residence at the University of Texas at El Paso, where he began the school's creative writing department and became a full professor. Later White was hired by the Department of English at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, where he became the Lindsay Young Professor of English and founded another creative writing department. He was Professor Emeritus at the University of Tennessee and a Phi Beta Kappa. Maurice de Saxe was the brilliant adornment of a brilliant age, one of the most renowned and admired men in the Europe of his day. It is not surprising that the writing of the biography of this vivid, talented, and entertaining figure should have provided the author with a genial and absorbing task. Maurice, Count of Saxony (28 October 1696 - 20 November 1750) was a notable soldier, officer and a famed military commander of the 18th century. The son of Augustus II the Strong, King of Poland and Elector of Saxony, he initially served in the Army of the Holy Roman Empire, then the Imperial Army before finally entering French service. De Saxe became a Marshal and even Marshal General of France. He is best known for his deeds in the War of the Austrian Succession and for his decisive victory at the Battle of Fontenoy especially. He is honored by the Walhalla Memorial. At the outbreak of the War of the Polish Succession, Saxe served under Marshal the Duke of Berwick, and for a brilliant exploit at the Siege of Philippsburg he was named lieutenant-general. On 26 March 1743, his merits were rewarded by promotion to Marshal of France. From this time on, he became one of the great generals of the age. Saxe with 65,000 men besieged Tournai and inflicted a severe defeat on the army of the Duke of Cumberland at the Battle of Fontenoy, an encounter determined entirely by his constancy and cool leadership.[4] During the battle, he was unable to sit on horseback due to edema, and was carried about in a wicker chariot. Saxe's work on the art of war, Mes R�veries was published after his death in 1757. It was praised by Frederick the Great and described by Lord Montgomery, more than two centuries later, as "a remarkable work on the art of war."