Hell Riders - The Charge of the Light Brigade

[Simon_Fielding]

This was one of my Xmas presents - despite being off-period I think it would have a great deal to offer WW1 enthusiasts.

Not only is the book eloquent, fluent, clear and with a pleasing turn of wit on occasion, it is also an excellent example of how to resolve conflicting accounts of complex battles and events. Brighton makes sure that the core of his book are first hand accounts by men who participated.

He covers controversies such as who was to blame, as well as examining the genesis of Tennyson's poem, which came to dominate popular perceptions of the event - an occurence to be repeated in the Great War.

The book is reinforced by an excellent set of appendices, including a roll of the nearly 700 (rather than 600) men who participated in the Charge.

A great read an a model for popular, authoritative military research. Recommended.

[armourersergeant]

Come on then who was to blame?

Have looked at this book but have others to get first. I read one about this a few years ago that took in the topogarphy of the ground and it was good. May give this a go a some time.

Arm.