The daughter of a Scottish soldier and a Jamaican herbalist, Mary Seacole (1805 81) gained recognition for her provision of care to British troops during the Crimean War. She had travelled widely in the Caribbean and Panama before venturing to England to volunteer as an army nurse in the Crimea. Although rebuffed by officials, an undeterred Seacole funded her own expedition, establishing the British Hotel near Balaclava to provide a refuge for wounded officers. Known affectionately as 'Mother Seacole' among the men, yet returning to England bankrupt at the end of hostilities, she had her plight highlighted in the press. First published in 1857, and reissued here in its 1858 printing, her autobiography was intended to share her story and restore to her some financial security. Probably dictated to her editor, who then polished the text for publication, this was the first autobiography by a black woman in Britain."

William Howard Russell (1820 1907) is today credited with having shaped the image and role of the modern war correspondent. His dispatches for The Times during the Crimean War were so influential that they led to military reforms and the fall of the Aberdeen Government. Moreover, his unflinching accounts of the appalling and insanitary conditions endured by ill-provisioned troops helped inspire the work of Florence Nightingale. He was not afraid to highlight poor leadership and planning, and was quick to praise the heroism of the 'common' soldier. Wearing military-style clothes, he obtained his information through his easy relationships with junior officers, helped by his fondness for brandy and cigars. This volume, published in 1856, includes his last Crimean dispatches, concluding with poignant descriptions of visits by the soldiers to the battlefields to erect memorials to their fallen comrades.

The journalist William Howard Russell (1820 1907) is sometimes regarded as being the first war correspondent, and his reports from the conflict in the Crimea are also credited with being a cause of reforms in the British military system. This account of his time there, first published in 1858 and expanded in this 1895 edition, explains how Russell was sent by The Times of London in 1854 to join British troops stationed in Malta. He spent the next two years witnessing some of the key moments of the war, including the battle of Balaclava and the ill-fated Charge of the Light Brigade. His newspaper reports of the fighting and of the living conditions for the troops were widely read and very influential. In this retrospective work, Russell gives a more personal narrative of his experiences, making this an important account of one the most brutal wars of the nineteenth century.

The journalist William Howard Russell (1820 1907) is sometimes regarded as being the first war correspondent, and his reports from the conflict in the Crimea are also credited with being a cause of reforms made to the British military system. Published in 1855, during the late stages of the conflict, this is a collection of eye-witness reports originally printed in The Times newspaper, including the famous account, from 25 October 1854, of the Charge of the Light Brigade during the Battle of Balaclava, and the other engagement on the same day which gave rise to the phrase 'the thin red line'. Russell's accounts are unflinching in their dramatic descriptions of the appalling and insanitary conditions endured by the ill-provisioned troops, and his criticism of those in command, particularly Lord Raglan, had a dramatic impact on the British people and government. Reading these letters today, it is easy to understand why.

The journalist William Howard Russell (1820 1907) is sometimes regarded as being the first war correspondent, and his reports from the conflict in the Crimea are also credited with being a cause of reforms made to the British military system. This 1865 book began as a review in The Times of the five-volume work of General Eduard Todleben (or Totleben), the military engineer and Russian Army General, whose work in creating and continually adapting the land defences of Sevastopol in 1854 5 made him a hero and enabled the fortress to hold out against British bombardment for a whole year. Russell added extracts from the original book to his review, and enlarged his commentary on the Russian text, producing a thorough and accurate synthesis, but always highlighting the central importance of the Russian work to any student of the history of the Sevastopol siege.

William Howard Russell (1820 1907) was a nineteenth-century war correspondent for The Times. In 1861 2 he visited America to report on the secession crisis that had followed Abraham Lincoln's campaign to abolish slavery, in which eleven southern states had withdrawn from the United States to form their own confederacy, resulting in the American Civil War. First published in 1863, this two-volume work recounts Russell's experiences there. Based on his interviews with Lincoln, other pivotal figures, and ordinary citizens, together with his diaries and his letters to The Times, it documents his impressions of both the northern and the opposing southern states as he travelled through them. His book, thought to have been compiled in response to accusations that he was biased towards the South, provides a revealing eyewitness account of life during a landmark period in America's history. Volume 1 focuses mainly on southern society and slavery.

William Howard Russell (1820 1907) was a nineteenth-century war correspondent for The Times. In 1861 2 he visited America to report on the secession crisis that had followed Abraham Lincoln's campaign to abolish slavery, in which eleven southern states had withdrawn from the United States to form their own confederacy, resulting in the American Civil War. First published in 1863, this two-volume work recounts Russell's experiences there. Based on his interviews with Lincoln, other pivotal figures, and ordinary citizens, together with his diaries and his letters to The Times, it documents his impressions of both the northern and the opposing southern states as he travelled through them. His book, thought to have been compiled in response to accusations that he was biased towards the South, provides a revealing eyewitness account of life during a landmark period in America's history. Volume 2 focuses on the horrors of the unfolding war.

In 1866, William Howard Russell (1820 1907) published this work, the official account of the July 1865 expedition on board the Great Eastern to lay a cable along the Atlantic Ocean floor between Valentia, Ireland, and Foilhummerum Bay in Newfoundland. It is illustrated with 26 lithographs of watercolours by Robert Dudley, who also travelled with the expedition. The cable, constructed by the Telegraph Construction & Maintenance Company, was designed to create a communications bridge between North America and Europe, enabling telegrams to be sent and received within minutes, when previously messages could be sent only by ship. The 1865 expedition was the fourth attempt to lay the cable, and although after 1200 miles the cable broke and was lost in the ocean, an expedition the following year was finally successful. This lively account of a pioneering attempt will appeal to anyone with an interest in the history of technology.

William Howard Russell was sent to India by The Times to report on the conflict of 1857-1859 known as the Indian Mutiny. His previous work was in the Crimean War and his exposes of conditions there led to the sending of Florence Nightingale and her nurses, improvements to supplies and conditions, and to the demand for military and administrative reform. It was largely because of his contributions that war correspondence emerged as a branch of journalism. In his Indian diary, Russell criticises British snobbery as well as treatment of the Indians, and advocates leniency and conciliation. Volume 1 covers his journey to India and first impressions. It also contains some fascinating examples of first-hand coverage of the conflict and the reprisals following Lucknow and Cawnpore. Russell was horrified by such events, and concludes that only law reforms and non-military rule can ensure the prosperity of the Empire.

William Howard Russell was sent to India by The Times to report on the conflict of 1857-1859 known as the Indian Mutiny. His previous work was in the Crimean War and his exposes of conditions there led to the sending of Florence Nightingale and her nurses, improvements to supplies and conditions, and to the demand for military and administrative reform. It was largely because of his contributions that war correspondence emerged as a new branch of journalism. In his Indian diary, Russell criticises British snobbery as well as attitudes to and treatment of the Indians, and advocates leniency and conciliation. Volume 2 continues his experiences, recounting anecdotes of military and civilian life with sympathy for the native people, intermingled with an unswerving belief in the rightness of the British presence in India. His advocacy of non-military rule, however, made the work controversial in its time.