Osprey Essential Histories 2 : The Crimean War

This bitter war between Russia and Turkey, aided by Britain and France, was the setting for the stuff of legends, not least the gallant but suicidal Charge of the Light Brigade, when, in the words of Tennyson, 'Into the Valley of Death rode the Six Hundred', now immortalised in film. The war also saw the reports of the first real war correspondent, William Russell of the London Times, which served only to highlight the army's problems, like the inability of the supply corps to get food to starving soldiers only six miles away. Perhaps best remembered, however, are the heroic deeds of Florence Nightingale who struggled to save young men from their greatest enemy in this war, not the Russians, but cholera. Text by John Sweetman.

Contents

• Chronology
• Background to War : Panorama of the Conflict
• Warring Sides : Opposing Forces
• Outbreak : A Just War
• The Fighting : The Clash of Arms
• Portrait of a Soldier : Captain Lewis Edward Nolan
• Portrait of a Civilian : Women at War
• How the War Ended : Guns Fall Silent
• Conclusion and Consequences : Counting the Cost