Crimea: The Great Crimean War, 1854-1856

The Crimean War, one of history's most compelling subjects, encompassed human suffering, woeful leadership and misad-min-istration on a grand scale. It created a heroic myth out of the dis-astrous Charge of the Light Brigade and, in Florence Nightingale, it produced one of history's great heroes. The war was a water-shed in world history and pointed the way to what mass warfare would be like in the twentieth century. New weapons were introduced; trench combat became a fact of daily warfare outside Sebastopol; medical innovation saved countless soldiers' lives that would otherwise have been lost. Ultimately, by failing to solve the Eastern Question, the war paved the way for the greater conflagration which broke out in 1914 and greatly pre-figured the current situation in Eastern Europe.

Trevor Royle is Associate Editor of the Sunday Herald and a regular commentator on international affairs for BBC radio.