With his sharp eye and analytical mind, Clive Ponting explodes many of the romantic myths which grew up in the years following the Crimean War, while telling the true story of the heroism of ordinary men. Above all, he makes use of the testimony of eyewitness 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.
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“Ponting provides the best judicious overview to date.” -- Choice
About the Author
Clive Ponting is Reader in Politics at the University of Wales, Swansea. He is the author of the bestselling Green History of the World, as well as the Pimlico History of the Twentieth Century and the Pimlico World History. He has written a revisionist biography of Churchill and a book, Armageddon, about the 2nd world war, as well as Thirteen Days, which detailed the diplomacy leading up to the 1st world war. He lives in Wales.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Informative But Limited,
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This review is from: The Crimean War: The Truth Behind the Myth (Hardcover)
This is a decent narrative of the Crimean War. Ponting is concerned with rescuing the Crimean War from the popular impression of a minor conflict. As he points out, this was arguably the largest European war between the Napoleonic wars and WWI. It involved most of the major European powers and some minor powers, had a global scope with combat in the Black and Baltic Seas and even in the Pacific, and involved large casulties with an estimated 650,000 deaths. Ponting's narrative of the conflict, its origins, and the final settlement is solid. He makes an attempt to provide a broad perspective on the war. Defects, however, are significant. Written mainly for a British audience, this book focuses disproportionately on the British experience. The great majority of Ponting's primary and secondary research sources are British. He makes a decent effort to cover the French effort, crucial since they provided the bulk of the Allied armies, but his coverage of the Russians and the Ottomans is limited. In contrast to his discussion of British politics and its role in decision making, there is no discussion of French, Russian, or Ottoman decision making. For example, he states correctly that one of the origins of the war was Napoleon III's desire to break out of the stranglehold imposed on France by post-Napoleonic war settlement but never explains why this was Napoleon III's preference. The narrative can be a bit confusing as Ponting has a tendency to cut back and forth from the battlefield to diplomatic events in a non-chronological way. As an account of folly, this topic has a lot of potential. The amateurish nature of the British effort, in particular, is remarkable and Ponting clearly enjoys skewering a variety of 19th century figures. On the other hand, not all of his judgements are apposite. In his conclusions, he attacks the British government for withdrawing into relative isolation after the fiascos of the Crimean War. But this and subsequent decisions kept Britain out of European entanglements and contributed to over 2 generations of relative peace, prosperity, and low military expenditures. Not necessarily a bad course of action.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Non-experts, start here,
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This review is from: The Crimean War: The Truth Behind the Myth (Hardcover)
For non-experts who want to know the basic facts about this little-studied but central event, this is the book for you. It is precise, detailed, cleanly written. Be advised, it is also highly opinionated. The author does not hesitate to dispense blame. I happen to prefer this kind of writing, but if you do not, then stay away. Also, bring your own maps. Those provided (it is not clear by whom) are incomplete, lacking basic information (like which way is North, which you can figure out, but it's nice to be told), lots of important stuff left out: a complete map of the Crimea would have been helpful. Other than that, highly recommended.
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