The Crimean War: The Story Behind the Myth

by Clive Ponting (Author)

• Used

  Hardcover
  2004

  $4.28

  The Crimean War is full of resonance - the battles of Alma, Balaclava and Inkerman, the Charge of the Light Brigade, the siege of Sevastopol, Florence Nightingale at Scutari with her lamp. To contemporaries, it was not the Crimean War but 'The Great War with Russia' - ironically Britain's allies were France, her traditional enemy, and the Ottoman Empire, widely seen as an infidel, corrupt Islamic power. Britain was unable fully to deploy her greatest strength, the Royal Navy, while her army was run by incompetent aristocrats. With his sharp eye and analytical mind, Clive Ponting explodes many of the romantic myths which grew up in the years following the war, while telling the true story of the heroism of ordinary men. Above all, he makes use of the testimony of eye-witness accounts, from William Russell of The Times, the first war correspondent, to Leo Tolstoy, who was caught up in the action while visiting his brother, to the memories of a variety of serving soldiers.

• Used

  Paperback
  2005

  $5.79

  The Crimean War is full of resonance - not least, the Charge of the Light Brigade, the Siege of Sevastopol and Florence Nightingale at Scutari with her lamp. In this fascinating book, Clive Ponting separates the myths from the reality, and tells the true story of the heroism of the ordinary soldiers, often through eye-witness accounts of the men who fought and those who survived the terrible winter of 1854-55. To contemporaries, it was 'The Great War with Russia' - fought not only in the Black Sea and the Crimea but in the Baltic, the Arctic, the Pacific and the Caucasus. Ironically, Britain's allies were France, her traditional enemy, ably commanded (from home) by Napoleon III himself, and the Muslim Ottoman Empire, widely seen as an infidel corrupt power. It was the first of the 'modern' wars, using rifles, artillery, trench systems, steam battleships, telegraph and railways; yet the British soldiers wore their old highly coloured uniforms and took part in their last cavalry charge in Europe. There were over 650,000 casualties. Britain was unable fully to deploy her greatest strength, her Navy, while her Army was led by incompetent aristocrats. The views of ordinary soldiers about Raglan, Cardigan and Lucan make painful reading.