Turkey and the Crimean War: A Narrative of Historical Events

Published in 1867, this book discusses the Crimean War from a pro-Turkish perspective. Sir Adolphus Slade (1804-77) covers the history of Ottoman military development as well as the origins of the Eastern Question, and the events leading to the outbreak of war. As a naval officer, whose Records of Travels in Turkey, Greece, &c., and of a Cruize in the Black Sea, with the Capitan Pasha is also reissued in this series, he was lent to the Turkish fleet in 1849 and took the name Mushaver Pasha. For seventeen years he worked to overhaul the navy, especially the defences of the Bosphorus, and his successes made him impatient with the allied French and British fleets. In 1854, an argument with their Admirals led to his removal from active service, and to a bitterness reflected in this book, which nevertheless provides a fascinating perspective on the war’s diplomatic and military complexities.