Customer Reviews

Hell Riders: The True Story of the Charge of the Light Brigade

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Terry Brighton's writing of the actual minute by minute unfolding of the charge was so well written I felt I was in the middle of it. Utterly captivating.
As for the rest of the book, he does an excellent job looking at the causes of the Crimean War, and delves into things I would never have thought about; transporting all the horses by ships for one thing.
Two chapters that could have been left out were about who blew the bulge for the charge and about Florence Nightingale's involvement after the charge. Both interesting, but they seemed to be vestigial.
I am not a big fan of military history, but this was an engrossing book.

Brighton briefly sketches the events that led to the Crimean War, but never loses focus on the Light Brigade. His account of the famous Charge is very detailed, and extends for over 100 pages. He skilfully allows the original participants (through their memoirs) to describe the action, and thus his descriptions have a first-hand 'feel' to them absent in some other books on the Charge. Brighton weaves these accounts together effectively. Despite the extraordinary detail of the section on the Charge, I never lost interest -- and was filled with admiration for the cavalrymen who rode up the valley and then down it in the hellfire of the Russian guns. Brighton examines Nolan's actions in (and after) relaying Raglan's orders to Lucan, and although apportioning most of the blame on Lucan, doesn't adopt a one-eyed strategy of making scapegoats of people. Instead, his discussions appear to be well balanced.

There are useful maps at the beginning of the book (though one showing the 'Thin Red Line' and the Heavy Brigade's repulsing of the Russians, prior to the Light Brigade's famous charge, would have been useful); and Brighton includes a list of those who rode in the Charge.

A great read and history 'brought to life' by those who created it.

I've recently read two books regarding the infamous Charge of the Light Brigade: Cecil Woodham-Smith's classic account, The Reason Why, and Terry Brighton's more recent Hell Riders. Both are excellent books, and complement each other very well. While Woodham-Smith's account focuses primarily on the officers involved, Brighton provides a grunt's-eye view of the Charge, focusing on the troopers who fought and died in the Crimean War.

The Charge was part of the larger Battle of Balaklava, during the Crimean War between an Anglo-French-Turkish alliance and Russia. On October 25th, 1854, Russian troops attacked the Allied army approaching Sevastapol. Lord Raglan, the British commander-in-chief, ordered Lord Cardigan's Light Brigade to attack a Russian position. Due to miscommunication between Captain Nolan, Raglan's aide, and the cavalry Commander Lord Lucan, and differing perspectives of the battlefield, the "noble 600" charged into the teeth of a Russian artillery redoubt, incurring horrendous casualties but winning immortality. For years, the Charge has been either the exemplar of gallant heroism, the apex of military folly, or some combination of both. And controversies about the event - who was to blame? what did the Charge achieve? - continue to rage.

Brighton provides a fresh, remarkably vivid account of this famous event. He provides a quick sketch of the Crimean War, but keeps his focus on the brigade. The clash of personalities between Lords Raglan, Lucan and Cardigan, and Captain Nolan is discussed, though it's not the focus as in other works. Brighton makes fine use of primary sources, such as diaries, correspondence and testimony of the participants, to depict the harsh life of a 19th Century cavalryman. The travails of the Crimean War - poor supplies, inadequate medical treatment, problems with horses, harsh exposure to disease and weather - are vividly described. His account of the Charge takes up nearly a third of the book, and it's a brilliant bit of narrative history. Mixing vivid prose, eyewitness testimony and commendable attention to detail, it's really gripping and immediate, providing a visceral "you are there" feel.

Besides his riveting account of the Charge itself, Brighton examines a variety of attendant controversies in depth. The obvious question is whose responsibility the charge is, and Brighton makes a convincing (though not conclusive) argument that the blame lay with Lucan. He also presents a layered (if not sympathetic) portrayal of the much-maligned Lord Cardigan, an arrogant and pompous man, but not a coward. More esoteric arguments - which musician blew the charge? - are also addressed. Perhaps the most affecting chapter, however, is his account of the post-war lives of these men, most of whom ended up destitute or in workhouses, ignored by the country who'd celebrated them as heroes.

Hell Riders is a fine addition to the pantheon of Light Brigade literature. Brighton didn't write the definitive account, but it's certainly a superb examination of a controversial event.

This is the best book about the charge of the Light Brigade during the 1854 Crimean War that has ever been written.Essentially,the entire chain of command of the British forces were personally antagonistic to each other(this is putting it mildly.It is quite likely that it would be more accurate to say that they hated each other).The four officers most responsible for this ill fated attack are Lord Raglan,Lord Lucan,Lord Cardigan,and Captain Nolan.The potential book buyer is encouraged to read the book and decide what degree of culpability to assign to each of the four officers involved on the day of the fateful charge.My own ranking assigns the greatest blame to Nolan,followed by Lucan,Raglan and Cardigan.The only other example of bickering and backstabbing calvary officers as worse as this would be case of Custer,Reno,and Benteen in the years leading up to the defeat of the 7th calvary at the Little Big Horn.The worst offenders in that case were Benteen and Reno;Custer,however,was responsible for allowing them to remain in the chain of command.This would also be the primary fault of Raglan-knowingly allowing them to remain in the chain of command.

Sometimes good history books are also a bit boring. This one covers the history, but is a fascinating read as well. I was hard pressed to put it down - and it is the best I've read on the Light Brigade.

Excellent insight of what really happen, with all the history, and social norms, and customs of the time, that allow this tragedy to happen

I found this hard to put down, that plus the background detail for the Crimean War, nineteenth century England, and the inefficiency of armies, makes for an interesting book. I had been an unknowing receiver of the Tennysonian myth created by his famous poem written shortly after the famous charge, and it is actually quite illuminating to check the mental phantom of the saga against the facts. With imperial overtones, the Crimean War begins as gunboat diplomacy. The depiction of the officer class is a snapshot of the British class system, and the defunct policy of allowing the aristocracy to purchase offer commissions. With the resulting sadsacks in charge the misteps towards the famous cavalry charge are set. The ambiguity lies in the blunder mixed with Tennysonian echoes (triggered by the reports of the famous Times journalist William Russell). The minute by minute account of the dread seven minutes of the fatal attack is almost cinematic, and fairly well wraps up the tale.

This is a terrific book. It by the far the most readable and enlightening yet on a battle that rates among the most fascinating to anyone drawn to military history.