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The Crimean War
Combining oral and visual history, this description of the Crimean War is compiled with the use of extracts from a considerable number of eye-witness accounts in the form of letters and diaries of soldiers, sailors, doctors, nurses, artists and reporters. They include views from all sides of the conflict - not only British, but French, Russian and Turkish. The war was the first to be photographed (by Roger Fenton and his colleagues), and the first to which professional war artists were assigned, and the book is extensively illustrated with images created by those photographers and artists.
272 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 1997
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
July 20, 2014
a very readable account of the events of the Crimean War, the major battles, incidents, personalities & mainly the incompetence that led to the war lasting as long as it did, & killing so many. Basically the winners were the least incompetent...
May 3, 2026
Based largely on extracts from letters, diaries and newspaper articles, Paul Kerr’s book was originally a tie-in with a 1997 TV series on Channel 4, and is told through the eyes of the soldiers, sailors, doctors, nurses, artists and reporters who were there. As well as the British point of view, there are accounts from French, Russian and Turkish soldiers, family members, reporters and onlookers.
I’d previously read about the work of photographer Roger Fenton (considered after the Crimean War to be the first war photographer, though there are other contenders for that title), so I knew something about the conflict. This book recounts firsthand observations by people who were there, including Times correspondent William Howard Russell, officer’s wife Fanny Duberly and soon-to-be famous novelist Leo Tolstoy, as well as nursing heroine Florence Nightingale, who set about reorganising the laundry and the kitchens in a bid to supply decent food and clean sheets for the wounded at the hospital at Scutari. Conditions generally were appalling, not least the effects of the weather – rain and snow contributed to horrendously deep mud on the unmetalled roads, triggering difficulties for both men and animals (many horses died through sinking into mud up to their bellies, and frost-bitten fingers were par for the course for the soldiers).
Casualties during the war were massive, with as many as 500,000 Russians killed, compared to a mere 22,000 on the British side. Florence Nightingale put the high number of fatalities down to ‘bad food and bad air’ and gave herself the task of improving hospital management and the training of nurses. The war highlighted the lack of tactical knowledge of British officers, weakened the Russian army and helped reform both the British army and European politics.
A fascinating book that lifts the lid on an appalling conflict.
I’d previously read about the work of photographer Roger Fenton (considered after the Crimean War to be the first war photographer, though there are other contenders for that title), so I knew something about the conflict. This book recounts firsthand observations by people who were there, including Times correspondent William Howard Russell, officer’s wife Fanny Duberly and soon-to-be famous novelist Leo Tolstoy, as well as nursing heroine Florence Nightingale, who set about reorganising the laundry and the kitchens in a bid to supply decent food and clean sheets for the wounded at the hospital at Scutari. Conditions generally were appalling, not least the effects of the weather – rain and snow contributed to horrendously deep mud on the unmetalled roads, triggering difficulties for both men and animals (many horses died through sinking into mud up to their bellies, and frost-bitten fingers were par for the course for the soldiers).
Casualties during the war were massive, with as many as 500,000 Russians killed, compared to a mere 22,000 on the British side. Florence Nightingale put the high number of fatalities down to ‘bad food and bad air’ and gave herself the task of improving hospital management and the training of nurses. The war highlighted the lack of tactical knowledge of British officers, weakened the Russian army and helped reform both the British army and European politics.
A fascinating book that lifts the lid on an appalling conflict.
January 31, 2024
Well . . . if you know NOTHING about the Crimean War, maybe don't start with this book. Or maybe do so it forces you to dig up more info on the subject . . . I don't know. Personally, I don't really know all that much about the Crimean War. All I know is that it is a very significant war in terms of the shaping of the 20th century, so when I found this book, I was really looking forward to it. That being said, I don't really feel like I learned a whole hell of a lot from this book by the end.
The book kind of reads like a Cliff notes summary of the war actions and battles interspersed with little blocks of eye witness accounts. You never stay with an eye witness account for more than a couple of paragraphs before you are back to a general summary of events and never with one particular eyewitness through an entire chapter. To me, that makes this book more for someone who has a bit of foreknowledge on the subject but would like to read some eyewitness accounts from specific events.
The book is well written, but I feel like there are probably much better, much more informative books on the matter.
The book kind of reads like a Cliff notes summary of the war actions and battles interspersed with little blocks of eye witness accounts. You never stay with an eye witness account for more than a couple of paragraphs before you are back to a general summary of events and never with one particular eyewitness through an entire chapter. To me, that makes this book more for someone who has a bit of foreknowledge on the subject but would like to read some eyewitness accounts from specific events.
The book is well written, but I feel like there are probably much better, much more informative books on the matter.
July 16, 2023
I came to this book fresh from reading the 137 letters of George Dallas, see "Eyewitness in the Crimea", mostly confined (literally) to the seige of Sebastopol. This encouraged me to read this well constructed account on the wider conflict of the Crimean War. I have not seen the companion Channel 4 TV programme but intend to seek it out as war in this location continues to fascinate and appall.
This is a straightforward narrative of the 1853-6 international conflict with suitably interesting first hand accounts from those living, fighting, writing, surviving, and dying in large numbers from the main players (Russia, Britain, France, Turkey but only third hand on the Sardinian involvement). The text is accompanied by numerous photos, many large and in atmospheric black and white that help imagine you are there.
The book was published in 1997. Its final lines are "Sebastopol remains a place, not only of strategic importance but also of patriotic emotion for the Russians. Let us hope there continues to be peace in the Crimea". Tragically, in 2023 that is not the case.
This is a straightforward narrative of the 1853-6 international conflict with suitably interesting first hand accounts from those living, fighting, writing, surviving, and dying in large numbers from the main players (Russia, Britain, France, Turkey but only third hand on the Sardinian involvement). The text is accompanied by numerous photos, many large and in atmospheric black and white that help imagine you are there.
The book was published in 1997. Its final lines are "Sebastopol remains a place, not only of strategic importance but also of patriotic emotion for the Russians. Let us hope there continues to be peace in the Crimea". Tragically, in 2023 that is not the case.
August 17, 2021
Lots of interesting facts but too disjointed, not an enjoyable read. It's a Channel Four book so may be based on a television programme, which may explain the confused approach.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews