Despatches from the Crimea

by William Howard Russell

William Russell's despatches to The Times revolutionised war reporting, and hence the public's perception of war. The despatches allowed the public to read about the reality of warfare, diminishing the distance between the home front and remote battlefields.

Genres: Military History

Hardcover

First published July 9, 1970

About the author

William Howard Russell was an Irish reporter with The Times, and is considered to have been one of the first modern war correspondents, after he spent 22 months covering the Crimean War including the Charge of the Light Brigade.

Reviews

['Aussie Rick' · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall this was a decent first hand account of the British Army in Crimean conflict, 1853-1856 taken from Sir William Howard Russell's reports and later book on the conflict. It was easy to read but I found that at time the book dragged and my interest tended to flag. I found the book "The Thin Red Line: The eyewitness history of the Crimean War" by Julian Spilsbury a much more engaging book offering very interesting and detailed first-hand accounts from the participants of this campaign.

[Dimitri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Copyrighted in 1966, I own a paperback edition by Panther History (1970) - predating ISBN.
A clear read, even without much prior background knowledge about the Crimean War. Still, I can't help but wonder if an unedited version wouldn't be more interesting, as a lot of the omitted material was 'only of interest to the military historian'. Who do you think buys these ?