Figes creates a sweeping political history of the Crimean War, drawing on his expertise in Russian history to do more than retell the standard myths. He places the war as a sort of tectonic event in the Eastern Question-the slow decay of the Ottoman Empire and the various actions of European powers to take advantage of that decay. For decades prior to the war, Russia had kept Turkey in what I can only describe as an abusive relationship-giving passports to Orthodox Ottoman subjects, carving off chunks of territory, and the like. Turkey played to the western powers, France and England, to counter Russian aggression, until finally in 1853 Tsar Nicolas pulled the trigger on the invasion. The politics are adeptly handled, and Figes has a real feeling for the pro and anti-war positions in each country.

However, as a military history, this book is distinctly weaker. Figes livens up the battles with plenty of firsthand accounts, including the immortal Tolstoy, but provides little insight into the minds of the commanders or soldiers. This is mostly what I wanted, since Crimea is in my opinion the stupidest war in history. The Charge of the Light Brigade barely begins to cover it: the Allies conducted TWO amphibious invasions without bothering to scout out the beaches first. In fact, scouting and intelligence seemed entirely absent from both sides of the war. The critical question, "Why invade Crimea at all? Why besiege Sevastopol at immense cost?" Is glossed over with a nod towards having sailed an army to Turkey and lost thousands of men to cholera, the Allies had to Do Something or lose the respect of their troops and the public. It may suffice to say that the commanders on both sides were amateurs, idiots, drunks, and on their deathbeds (all true), but it doesn't explain how they made so many godawful decisions.

In the end, after close to a million casualties on all sides, the system worked. Diplomacy prevented a wider war. France gained the most prestige. Britain many exemplars of the rising bourgeois morality. Russia lost some territory but also had a chance for half-hearted reforms. The Ottoman Empire got some breathing space and mostly used it to return to the status quo ante. Austria lost the most, despite avoiding the fighting, as its historic alliance with Russia was broken, and they had no allies to stop the rise of Germany and Italy from Austrian territory. The Eastern Question, Serbia, and Pan-Slavism remained unresolved, paving the way for World War 1 and the modern world.

And as an aside, what with current events circa 2014 and the Russian Annexation of Crimea, you might want to read more into this book than is warranted. All I can say is that there is a long long history of Westerners treating Russians as "savages and barbarians" and misreading Russian intentions. That said, do not underestimate the extent to which Sevastopol is holy ground to a certain type of pan-Slavic mystic.