The Guns of Sevastopol

Sidney Allinson is a Victoria-based communications consultant, Canadian
news correspondent for Britain’s The Army Quarterly and Defence, and
author of The Bantams: The Untold Story of World War I.

The Guns of Sevastopol is a pleasure to read. The author, a military
enthusiast with a sure grasp of the Crimean War, uses the tried and true
method of placing a fictional soldier (in this case Ensign William
Dudley of the Royal Hampshire Fusiliers) at the scene of action and
following him through actual historical events. There’s an echo of
“Flashman” in Thompson’s approach, which is no bad thing. Each
chapter is headed by a date, from March 1855 to December 1855.
Thompson’s delight in the details of British Army life in the
Victorian era is evident as he chronicles barracks life as well as
battlefield carnage. Military buffs in particular will enjoy this book.