Mary Seacole was a remarkable woman. During the Crimean War, she ran a canteen for soldiers and a restuarant for officers plus a general store at Spring Hill on the road from the British supply port... More > of Balaklava to the seige lines before Sevastopol. Her generosity and compassion towards the sick and wounded are legendary giving her a status in recent years close to that of Florence Nightingale. Mary freely gave of her nursing skills, taking remuneration for her Caribbean-inspired herbal remedies only from those who could afford it, but asking nothing of those who did not have the funds. This publication tells of the trials and tribulations Mary experienced building-up and running her business, and also her day-to-day activities helping those who needed care. It also recounts in her own words her experiences during the major conflicts of 1855. In addition, the location of Mary's establishment today is identified and illustrated. The publication is in colour throughout and includes maps and photographs.< Less
In September 1854, the armies of Britain, France and Turkey invaded the Crimean peninsular with the aim of teaching expansionist Russia a military lesson by quickly capturing the naval port of... More > Sevastopol. The landings at Kalamita Bay went well and the Allied army was victorious over the Russians at the Battle of the Alma on the road to Sevastopol. However, the defeated and demoralised Russian army was not pursued and allied plans began to unravel. An attack on defences on the north shore of Sevastopol harbour was abandoned in favour of a flank march around the city and an investment from the south. Key to this new strategy was the seizure of the port of Balaklava. This publication gives an account of the progress of the first two weeks of the invasion of the Crimea from the landings to the capture of Balaklava. Forty-four maps, photographs and pictures illustrating important locations and events are included. Almost all are in colour. This is a must have volume for anyone interested in the Crimean War.< Less
Roger Fenton is regarded as the most artistically accomplished of the early war photographers through his work in the Crimea from 8th March to 22nd June 1855 when he took many iconic photographs,... More > some of which are recognized today as masterpieces. Many were portraits of military personnel, but he also produced landscapes, which show the terrain at Balaklava, Inkerman, Sevastopol and the camps on the Chersonese Plateau. He also wrote letters back home, which compliment his photographs and allowed an insight into his feelings and day-to-day activities. Many of the locations around Sevastopol where Fenton took his landscape images were visited in August and September in 2011 and 2012, and the views again photographed to show the same scenes today. The results are interesting and document the changes that have occurred since the conflict. The publication is a tribute to a true pioneer.< Less
In the early 1900s, Vladislav Klembovsky, then a colonel in the Russian army, took a series of photographs of the Crimean battlefields plus other locations, monuments and graves around Sevastopol. In... More > 1904, an album was published by the Museum of the Defence of Sevastopol containing one hundred and nineteen of these images. This work, which came together with maps showing where and in which direction the pictures were taken, was a remarkable achievement for its time and still stands as a valuable record of the landscape of the fields of conflict of the war of 1854-56 before significant changes occurred. This publication is a tribute to Klembovsky’s album in that it compares the subjects of eighty-one of his images with the same scenes taken in the summers of 2011 and 2012. Information is also given on the career of Klembovsky and the historical importance of the sites he chose to photograph. This book is intended as an aid and guide to those who may walk the Crimean battlefields in the future< Less
The Scottish artist William Simpson arrived in the Crimea in November 1854 and stayed until the fall of Sevastopol in the autumn of 1855. During this period, he sketched many scenes associated with... More > the on-going Crimean War, which were subsequently watercoloured and published in a volume entitled the 'Seat of the War in the East'. This present publication is a tribute to Simpson in that his original pictures are compared with digital images of the same subjects today. In many instances, the photographs published were taken from within a few yards of the where Simpson must have sat or stood to make his drawings. As a consequence, they show the changes to the landscape that have occured over more than 150 years. A summary of Simpson's life history has been included as well as explanations as to the significance of each of the scenes. The book is a 'must-have' for all those interesred in the Crimean War, the art of the Crimean War and the landscape of the battlefields of the Crimean War.< Less
James Robertson and Felice Beato were pioneers in the new art of war photography and this two-man team produced many outstanding images during visits to the Crimea in 1854-1856. They became famous... More > for their views of the ruins of Sevastopol and its bastions after the siege had ended. The author followed in Robertson and Beato’s footsteps taking colour pictures of sites they visited and photographed during the Crimean War, and also after peace was declared. This publication pays tribute to their work by reproducing over seventy of their landscape photographs side-by-side with today’s modern equivalents taken during August and September in 2011 and 2012. In addition, information is provided that places the images in geographical and historical perspective. For those who may want to visit the Crimea and stand where the author stood when retaking the Robertson/Beato landscapes, global positioning system (GPS) coordinates are given for many of the modern camera locations.< Less
