Book Description
This text includes accounts focusing on the experience of battle, during such pivotal military events such as the Sikh Wars, the Afghan Wars and the Boer War.
Customer Reviews:
Not what I wanted..........2007-08-20
The actual events of the fatal day are covered in a chapter. The first few hundred pages set the scene. She spends a lot of time discussing personalities and the lives of 2 of the principle characters...but neglects other important characters and disregards any discussion of other interpretations. If you want to read a lot about why Lord Cardigan was disliked, read this book. If you want to know what happened, red 'Hell Riders'.
Into the valley of death rode the six hundred.......2006-11-14
At the battle of Balaclava during the Crimean war, two incompetent, megalomaniacal aristocrats led a brigade of cavalry into a deadly gauntlet of Russian artillery. The charge of the Light Brigade has been immortalized by Alfred, Lord Tennyson. Cecil Woodham-Smith seeks to explain how such a tragedy occured.
Lord Lucan and Lord Cardigan were brothers-in-law who detested each other. Each possessed deep character flaws. To make matters worse, neither had led as much as a single soldier in battle and were completely unfit for command. Yet, British army command was based on social rank, not experience, thus these two supercilious fools were to attain positions of power that inevitably led to slaughter.
Lucan was appointed divisional command of calvary while Cardigan, his brother-in-law and enemy, received command of the light brigade. Two people completely incapable of working together would comprise a superior/subordinate relationship. Woodham-Smith provides interwoven biographies of both which culminate on that fateful day of 1854.
The Reason Why: The Story of the Fatal Charge of the Light Brigade is an excellent book. Swiftly-paced, well-written, and suspenseful, Woodham-Smith's effort contains that quintessential British literary charm found in historical works of mid-20th century and earlier. It's a charm which lends itself to extended and pleasurable reading. As a history buff, I can't get enough of it and appreciate the abundance I found here. 5+ stars.
The reason why.......2006-03-14
Outstanding. An in depth look at the actual people involved. Everybody knows what happened, here's how, or why if you will.
The Cardigan Sweater.......2005-09-10
Theirs not to reason why
Theirs but to do an die.
Into the valley of death
Rode the 600.
------------- Alfred Lord Tennyson
So went Tennyson's heroic poem "Charge of the Light Brigade". Every School boy used to know it. But few know who ordered and led the light brigade of cavalry to slaughter in the Crimea in 1854.
It was in fact a British aristocrat named James Thomas Brudenell, the duke of Cardigan (yes, the sweater's named after him). The story goes he fell off his horse as a child and injured his brain but not his birthright nor bank account with which he bought command of the light brigade.
The charge into the Russian cannon was a mistake. His sail to the crimea was so ill-prepared that his horses arrived half starved and his men sick and hungry. Of the 600 who rode out, Cardigan included, only 200 returned, all wounded except for Cardigan who strode his horse in lordly style up the defile and back to return unscathed to his yacht in the harbor.
Real history here? Likely mostly. Brudenell was a stupid martinet, much despised, bitterly ridiculed in the press. He was relieved of his command and the British policy of buying commands changed. Other versions of the event can be had, too. Read both sides with skepticism
Arrogance and stupidity..........2004-06-17
Cecil Woodham-Smith's story of the Charge of the Light Brigade is the biography of two men: Lords Lucan and Cardigan; brothers-in-law whose hatred for each other was surpassed only by arrogance and ineptitude as officers. Woodham-Smith's book is the story of two men cradled by an absurd system of rank and class, who came together as two of the highest-ranking officers in one of the worst-run campaigns in British military history, which resulted in one of the most legendary blunders in all of military history.
In the lifetimes of Lucan and Cardigan (the late eighteenth and early nineteeth century), the best way to get ahead in the British Army was to purchase your rank. The purchase system, as it was called, was basically a way for England's wealthy classes to keep the most powerful positions in the army for themselves, and exclude those individuals who were not of the same social stratum. This system was supported by Britain's greatest military mind, the Duke of Wellington, who, it is explained, somehow managed to hide the deficiencies of the system behind his military brilliance. However, by the time Lucan and Cardigan came into a position of authority, Wellington had long since passed away, none of the high officers involved in the Crimean campaign had heard a shot fired in anger, and the only combat-experienced officers in the British Army (those who had served in India) were unwanted.
The biography portion of the book gets a little bit cumbersome at times, especially for those of us who aren't entirely familiar with the British nobility system, but it provides an interesting backstory to the disaster in the Crimea. How two men so completely arrogant and inept came to a position of power in the British Army is shocking, especially when one considers that it was widely known that neither man was fit to command cavalry squadrons, let alone brigades and divisions.
Ultimately, Woodham-Smith's argument is effective: the purchase system, coupled with the British class system, was ripe for a disaster. By allowing incompetency to buy its way up the ranks while more competent solders were bypassed and more experienced soldiers were shunned, it was only a matter of time until the British experienced a debacle such as Balaclava and the entire Crimean Campaign. Unfortunately for the British, it took two spectaculary arrogant and stupid men to breed such a disaster, and when it finally happened, it happened in spectacular fashion.
Book Description
On the 150th anniversary of the world's most famous cavalry charge comes a revisionist retelling of the battle based on firsthand accounts from the soldiers who fought there
In October 1854, with the Crimean War just under way and British and French troops pushing the tsar's forces back from the Black Sea, seven hundred intrepid English horsemen charged a mile and a half into the most heavily fortified Russian position. In the seven minutes it took the cavalry to cross this distance, more than five hundred of them were killed. Celebrated in poetry and legend, the charge of the Light Brigade has stood for a century and a half as a pure example of military dash and daring. Until now, historical accounts of this cavalry charge have relied upon politically motivated press reports and diaries kept by the aristocratic British generals who commanded the action.
In Hell Riders, noted historian and Crimean War expert Terry Brighton looks, for the first time, to the journals recorded by survivors-the soldiers who did the fighting. His riveting firsthand narrative reveals the tragically inept leadership on the part of the British commander in chief, Lord Raglan, whose orders for the charge were poorly communicated and misinterpreted, and an unfathomable indifference on the part of British officers to the men who survived the battle and were left to tend their wounds and bury the dead in the freezing cold. While the charge overran the Russians, it gained nothing and the war continued for another two years. In finally capturing the truth behind the charge of the Light Brigade, Brighton offers a stirring portrait of incredible bravery in the service of a misguided endeavor.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent! A great read!.......2007-08-20
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.
Charge of the Light Brigade (Hell Riders).......2007-08-01
Excellent insight of what really happen, with all the history, and social norms, and customs of the time, that allow this tragedy to happen
Brittannia rule the waves.......2005-04-03
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.
A Rivetting Account Of The Ill-Fated Charge.......2005-01-25
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.
You are there.......2005-01-12
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.
Average customer rating:
- Good, Evil, Angels, Nazis, What More Could You Want?
- Well thought out and a joy to read
- BRILLIANT AND BEAUTIFUL
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Light Brigade
Peter J. Tomasi
Manufacturer: DC Comics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 1401207952 |
Customer Reviews:
Good, Evil, Angels, Nazis, What More Could You Want?.......2006-11-06
That most elemental of struggles, Good vs. Evil, gets the cross-genre treatment in this WWII-set comic collection about battling angels and avatars. The story opens on December 17, 1944, somewhere in the Belgian forests, where we meet a small unit of U.S. infantrymen dug into a snow-covered cemetery. Among them are comic-book fan Simon, battle-weary Mark, soul-deadened Chris (whose wife was killed in a car crash and son is in foster care), and whole passel of fairly interchangeable GIs. Veterans of D-Day, this band of brothers has seen it all -- until they are overrun by a much larger unit of Germans who apparently continue to function just fine even with half their heads shot away. Some of the GIs escape this massacre and hole up in an abandoned farmhouse, where their rest is interrupted by an overhead duel between two angels. Yep, angels.
The gist of the premise is that a set of angels (the Grigori) were charged by God with watching over his human creations. However, the Grigori eventually succumbed to the sins of the flesh to produce mixed-breed humans called Nephillim. God was angered and decided to smote them all with the great flood and start again from scratch. Alas, the smoting wasn't quite up to normal God-like standards and some of the Grigori and Nephillim survived. These survivors swore to take their revenge and have spent millennia working toward that goal. All of this is related by the good archangel, who basically brainwashes the GIs into trying to stop Evil from triumphing. It seems that the Germans encountered by the GIs are Nephillim and are led by the last surviving Grigori. He posses the "Sword of God" and needs only to bathe it in the fire of the "True Cross" in order to become invincible.
Since the "True Cross" happens be housed in a nearby monastery, the story turns into a race, as the GIs must beat the Germans there and mount a stand against Evil with the help of the monks. There are some excellent little episodes en route, such as a tangle with some Germans in disguise, and the liberation of a munitions factory. After this, things go rather conventionally, although one of the GIs has a rather intriguing past which comes into play. The final third of the book revolves around the last stand at the monastery, and follows the conventions of the shrinking heroic stand.
For the most part, the book is fairly engaging and well-paced. Peter Snejbjerg's artwork is compelling and well-suited to the material, and the numerous action scenes are very well-handled. (It should be noted that some of the scenes are quite bloody and gory.) Given that so much of the story takes place at night or in the dark, special mention should be made of Bjarne Hansen's thoughtful coloring. The story is interesting in that few comics explicitly invoke things like God, angels, the true cross, etc., and one could see it having a lot of appeal based on that. However, one can also interpret the material more subversively by noting that God's attempted extermination of the Grigori and Nephillim mirrors the Holocaust. Even more problematic, the archangel essentially brainwashes the GIs into fighting evil instead of letting them choose to do so of their own free will. All in all, worth checking out, especially if you like WWII as a setting.
Well thought out and a joy to read.......2006-03-03
"Light Brigade" collects the four issue miniseries by DC editor and sometimes writer Peter J. Tomasi. Judging by this work, fans of comics and graphic novels everywhere should wish Tomasi had more time to write.
The plotline itself is not overly complex, but it is compelling: during World War II, in the winter, a band of American soldiers encounters some Germans--but these 'Germans' are quite out of the ordinary, since they seem able to sustain horrific injuries without flinching, much less going down. Simultaneously, overhead, two angels do battle; upon crashing to earth the injured archangel enlists in the aid of the Americans before dying, while the fallen angel, the last of the Grigori, takes control of his faux-German force. A race ensues to see which group can reach a sacred monestary first, a monestary that contains actual relics of Christian lore. If the Grigori, who wields the sword of God, manages to ignite the sword on the endless flame of the True Cross...bad things will happen.
It is standard Heaven vs Hell stuff set amongst the backdrop of World War II. While the war in Heaven motif has been well used, especially in comics (see Preacher and Spawn, for example), and World War II has been even more widely used as a setting in the last few years in every form of media, Tomasi manages to make things interesting with his characters. The men who form the Light Brigade, as they come to call themselves, are all realistic feeling and as well developed as they can be in a 200 page graphic novel. Their leader, who is much older than he seems, has a very interesting backstory. And their foe, the last Grigori, while somewhat of a stereotypical very bad guy, has an interesting perspective on who, exactly, is at fault in this war in Heaven.
The artwork is well done and fits the tone of the story perfectly. It is not overly detailed, but it is nice to look at, all the major characters are recognizable and distinctive (important when most wear the same army-issu fatigues), and the actions scenes flow well. There is no small amount of blood and gore, but it feels rather cartoony, not hyper-realistic or off-putting--certainly not as visceral and graphic as something like Preacher, but still not something for little kids.
In all this is a very enjoyable book, and well worth picking up. You will find yourself engaged by the characters and you will likely appreciate how carefully considered everything in the book is: it is filled with little things that make it very interesting, from the religious tidbits/lore to the attention paid to the soldiers life in the cold trenches.
BRILLIANT AND BEAUTIFUL.......2006-01-11
Light Brigade collects the outstanding four issue mini-series that was certainly one of the standout limited series' of 2004. The book tells the story of a group of American soldiers near the end of WWII, who are holed up in a cemetery in Belgium when they encounter the enemy German soldiers. But these are no ordinary men who are shot point blank and continue on with half of their heads blown away. A handful of Americans escape as their capture comrades are executed.
They find refuge in an abandoned farmhouse but their peace is soon interrupted by a pair of angels, one slaying the other. The Angel Sauriel relates the tale of the Grigori, the angels charged with looking over men and safeguarding them from evil in earliest biblical history. The Grigori soon find themselves corrupted by those they sought to protect falling prey to man's weakness of emotion and leading to the mingling of Angel and man to produce a half-breed called the Nephillim. Seeking to destroy this bastardization of his creation, God deluges the world with rain but some Nephillim and Grigori survive and curse God, vowing revenge. It was the Nephillim that the American soldiers encountered in the guise of German soldiers and their commander, the last surviving Grigori.
They have found the sword of God and now only need to light the sword in the eternal flame from the cross that Christ was crucified on carry their battle to heaven itself. The soldiers are given the near impossible task of protecting that relic that is hidden inside a remote monastery that has been cared for by its monks for centuries. But one of these soldiers is not so ordinary either. Mark is actually Marcus Longinus, the Roman Centurion who pierced Christs chest with his spared and was doomed to spend eternity to amend for his sin, still in possession of the blood-stained spearhead.
At its core Light Brigade is a standard battle of good vs. evil and I don't think it's much of a coincidence that the Germans are seen as the evil in the story. But the real hook is the outstanding characters. There's soldier Chris Stavros who's just received a letter telling him his wife has been killed in an accident and his child will be placed into foster care until he returns home. Another is a enthusiastic comic fan who fancies himself and remaining soldiers as their own version of the Justice Society. And then there is Mark, the lonely, tired Centurion who is both opposing the evil Gregori and seeking redemption.
The art by Peter Snejbjerg is beautiful and evocative; one can almost hear the dead silence of the snow covered Belgian forest as the soldiers hide after the attack by the Nephillim. A great comic for non-comc fans to read!
Reviewed by Tim Janson
Average customer rating:
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POCKET HERCULES, THE: Captain Morris and the Charge of the Light Brigade
MJ Trow
Manufacturer: Pen and Sword
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 1844153789 |
Book Description
William Morris was in the front rank during the Charge of the Light Brigade. He was one of the first horsemen to reach the Russian guns. This is his story. M.J. Trow's vivid biography of this typical Victorian soldier gives a fascinating insight into the officer class that fought the Crimean War. In recording Morris's experiences during a notorious campaign, the author reveals much about the hidebound character of the British army of that era. The portraits of Morris's fellow officers and commanders - men like Nolan, Raglan and Lucan - are telling, as is the contrast between Morris and his incompetent superior Cardigan. The author meticulously recreates Morris's life and, through him, the lives of a generation of professional British soldiers.
Book Description
“An outstanding work that strips away much of the nonsense that has surrounded a tragic military blunder . . . [a] splendid examination.” —Booklist
On October 25, 1854, acting in defense of their base at Balaklava during the Crimean War, the Light Brigade of the British Cavalry Division made the most magnificent and brutal charge in military history. Seven hundred men armed with sabers and lances charged straight at the muzzles of Russian cannons. In the slaughter that followed, many fell to roundshot and shell. Those who survived took a terrible revenge on the enemy.
In this vivid and extraordinarily detailed account of the charge and the bloody melee that followed, Terry Brighton draws on twenty years of research to tell the story in the words of the survivors themselves for the first time.
Hell Riders takes the reader closer than ever before to the experience of charging into the valley of death, and reveals the horrific truth about the charge of the Light Brigade exactly as the survivors lived it.
Customer Reviews:
Life to Tennyson Poem.......2006-11-11
I read the book simply for informational purposes. I had read and known Alfred Lord Tennyson's famous poem "The Charge of the Light Brigade"...but aside from the poem, I didn't know that much about the actual event itself. I found Brighton's book at a local bookstore and after reading a few random selections, I decided to purchase the book as I found the writing style easy to read.
This book deals with the actual events surrounding the disastrous cavalry charge led by Lord Cardigan during the Battle of Balaclava on October 25, 1854 in the Crimean War. The Brighton puts forth his opinion, but is careful to admit it is his opinion and even offers a few other conventional views on where the blame may or may not lay. Each view balanced with the pros and cons of the varying opinions.
Brighton's writing stle is easy to follow and read. I actually read through this book much faster than I had originally anticipated. Even though the subject matter only had a slight interest to me, I was taken in by the storylines surounding the events and opinions as to what actually happened and why. As an added bonus, Brighton added a short epilogue for the characters and follows a few of them into their future beyond the battle to inform the reader as to what eventually happened to many of them. This in some cases serves as a stark reminder of "how soon we forget" as many ended up in disappointing life situations later in their lives.
I would recommend this book to anyone interested in getting a sense of the event itself delivered in a very readable format.
Not quite the whole Truth.......2005-11-02
This book by Terry Brighton (TB) is well-written and would appear to be the last word on the Charge of the Light Brigade. Not so, in my opinion, as it is contemporary and follows on closely from another recent book on the same topic (The Charge - Why The Light Brigade was Lost by Mark Adkins). One should read the other book by Mark Adkins (MA) as well to get the full flavour of this dramatic event.
The MA book had a really interesting approach - once the positions of individuals or units were determined, their schematic locations were drawn onto perspective diagrams which were based on real photographs as seen by Raglan. Having determined that there were four individuals by which History will always judge to have been responsible, MA then shifts the blame onto Nolan's lap by postulating that Nolan had meant to mislead.
TB's book is an analysis of the charge as recorded by the individuals involved, another interesting approach. He debunks MA's theory as mere speculation (rightly so) but that is to do disservice to MA's book which was a well-crafted book in its own right. TB's book states that Lucan was responsible, and so the blame game goes on.
Average customer rating:
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Gallipoli
Manufacturer: Angus & Robertson Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: 020714673X |
Product Description
Gallipoli is the tremendous, page-turning epic of two young sons of Western Australia who left their homes for the heady adventure of war and the dream of pushing the Turks from the Dardanelles back to Constantinople, who joined the heroic 10th Light Horse and participated in the tragic events that overtook that Brigade on the night of August 7, 1915. This book is based on the screenplay by David Williamson for the film produced by Robert Stigwood and Patricia Lowell, directed by Peter Weir and starring Mel Gibson as Frank Dunne and Mark Lee as Archy Hamilton. Book published in Australia.
Average customer rating:
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The Charge of the Light Brigade (Turner Classic Movies British Film Guides)
Mark Connelly
Manufacturer: I. B. Tauris
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 1860646123 |
Book Description
Tony Richardson's 1968 The Charge of the Light Brigade, with its star cast, lavish sets and location shoots, was one of the most expensive British films ever made. Mark Connelly examines the film and its difficult production history, the role of its stars David Hemmings, Vanessa Redgrave and John Gielgud, and director Richardson's running feud with the press, all culminating in the film's subsequent fame. He shows the film to be representative of its time, in its visual style and its use of sixties themes such as youth, sexual infidelity and class, to discuss how Charge of the Light Brigade, while meticulously reconstructed from authentic sources, reveals the horror of war to a world struggling to come to terms with American involvement in Vietnam.
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