William Howard Russell (1820–1907)

A great book, for what it covers. This is a reprint of the original 1865 Russell book. It begins with a short history of the first short-lived transatlantic cable, laid by HMS Agamemnon and USS Niagara, then moves on to the main subject, the second cable and its laying by Brunel's Great Eastern in 1865. This cable too was unsuccessful, and the heroic struggles to repair the faults found during its laying and then the unsuccessful attempt to recover it after it broke are very well described.

Unfortunately the original book then stops at this point, before the Great Eastern laid a successful third cable in the following year. They also succeeded (after many attempts!) in grappling the previous cable back to the surface and completing it. This is mentioned in a brief modern appendix, but it's a shame that Russell never wrote a second edition at the time.… (mer)

Anthology of reporting by William Russell, special correspondent for The Times, including The Crimean War, the Indian Mutiny, the American Civil War and the Franco Prussian War, etc. His eye witness reports of battles, at The Alma and Balaklava must have electrified readers at the time and are still impressive today, in their scope and descriptive power. Russell wielded great power in forming public opinion and did much to highlight the deficiencies of equipment and medical support , in the early stages of the Crimean campaign. He also had tremendous access to the powerful and his dealings with Count Otto von Bismarck, during the Franco Prussian War, are particularly fascinating.… (mer)