The Crimean War of 1853–1856 was the first war covered by the press in almost real time: William Howard Russell's dispatches in The Times changed how Europe saw armed conflict. Our archive holds five rare editions that let you see the campaign through the eyes of its participants — all free to read in your browser.
The chronicle of the campaign is best started with The War in the Crimea, a systematic military history of the fighting on land and at sea. It pairs naturally with The Seat of War in the East — an album of 81 lithographs after drawings made on the spot by William Simpson, the first special artist ever sent to a war, with text by George Brackenbury.
For the personal side, At Home and on the Battlefield gathers officers' letters from Crimea, China and Egypt spanning 1854–1888 — read together with our piece on Florence Nightingale, the 'Angel of the Crimea', whose work at Scutari reshaped military medicine.
And for the longer arc of Crimean history, The Journey of Catherine II to the Crimea reconstructs the empress's famous 1787 tour — the subject of our separate article.
Browse the whole shelf under military history and the Crimea region — or start with memoirs, the genre that brings you closest to the battlefield.