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Book Review of The Reason Why

The Reason Why
The Reason Why
Author: Cecil Woodham-Smith
Book Type: Paperback
reviewed on + 32 more book reviews


Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do or die,
Into the valley of death
Rode the six hundred.

--Alfred, Lord Tennyson

During the Crimean War, fought by Russia against Britain, France and Turkey, there occurred a battle of such monumental stupidity and wasteful casualties on the part of the British that it was celebrated in poetry and song. This book details the chronology of events and clash of aristocratic personalities that led to what amounted to a suicide charge by an entire cavalry brigade.