THE THIN RED LINE OF BALACLAVA.

London: Hamish Hamilton, 1970. 257 pp, 9 1/4" H. Map endpapers, b&w and colour illustrations - photographs, reproductions, maps/battle plans. "(T)he Charge (of the Light Brigade) was only a vivid firework display on the fringe of the main action. It was the Highland Brigade and in particular the 93rd Highlanders, the 'Thin Red Line' of the title, under the inspiring leadership of Sir Colin Campell who really saved the day. This new narrative of the battle, based exclusively on eye-witness reports from British, French and Russian sources, presents the conflict as a coherent whole. Here are Raglan, Cardigan, Lucan, Campbell and Scarlett; Bosquet and Canrobert; the staff officers, the surgeons, the lady spectators, the war corres-pondents, the ordinary soldiers on both sides. The political manoeuvring, the armies arriving in the Crimea, the Allied success at Alma, the ravages of cholera, Inkerman 'the soldier's battle', Tchernaya, the storming of the Redan, the siege of Sebastopol, the influence of Florence Nightingale and Maitre-chef Soyer - this is the Crimean War, a struggle which need not have taken place, which produced no decisive solution, and which demonstrated with appalling clarity the inefficiencies of the British High Command." Light edge wear - mainly on bottom edge of boards, a few tiny shallow bumps to bottom edge of boards, small bump at bottom corner of rear boards - migrates into corner of approx. last 12 page leaves, minor browning to top edge of boards, light wrinkling at top/bottom of spine. Dust jacket is price-clipped, has light to moderate edge wear/wrinkling - mainly at top/bottom of spine and flap-folds, one or two tiny edge tears, very light browning on spine and at top edge.. First Edition. Hard Cover. Very Good -/Good-.