The Charge

Unravels facts from fiction about one of the most controversial episodes in military history: the British cavalry’s Crimean War disaster.

This book shatters many long-held conceptions of how and why this military action happened, and who was to blame. You’ll ride with the Regiments down the valley, visit the Russian guns as they frantically fire from three sides, before limping painfully back up the valley with the survivors. The story switches skillfully from the strategic and tactical problems of the battlefield to what it was like for the trooper in the valley or a Russian gunner serving his cannon. Through the novel use of sketches you can, at every stage, look down the on the battlefield from the same position as that used by the British commander-in-chief, Lord Raglan. You’ll see the situation as Raglan saw it when he gave each of his infamous four orders that led to the charge. The fourth order, that launched the Brigade down the valley of death, involved four “horsemen of calamity.” Raglan gave the order, Captain Nolan delivered it, Lord Lucan received it, and the Earl of Cardigan executed it. History has disagreed over the share of the blame. The author makes a masterly analysis of the probabilities and discusses factors previously overlooked. There is a cogent argument, never made before, that the blunder was deliberate. This book is probably the closest we will ever get to the truth about the charge of the Light Brigade.