A Superb Original Set Of Beautifully Leather Bound, Famous Historical Accounts Of The Crimean War By Kinglake, Alexander William. The Invasion of the Crimea: Its Origin, and an Account of its Progress to the Death of Lord Raglan. Including Ist Editions

A full set of these fabulously bound novels that were published and printed over 25 years First editions of volumes V-VIII, together with the second edition of volume IV and third editions of volumes I-III (published the same year as the first).One of the great Winston Churchill's, favourite writersDuring the past 60 years they have passed through three famed collections, of; Richard Hugh Cholmondly, Llewelyn Griffiths and Leonard ShuterEdinburgh and London: William Blackwood and Sons, 1863-87Kinglake was in the Crimea in 1854, 'witnessed the battle of the Alma from close hand, dined that night with Lord Raglan... helped the wounded, sketched and recorded the scenes in his diary. Kinglake rode with the allies towards Sevastopol and watched them take up siege positions on upland to the south. From there, he saw the charges of the Heavy and Light Brigades on 25 October near Balaklava, though soon afterwards he was invalided back to England' (ODNB). Entrusted with the task of writing a history of the campaign by Lord Raglan's widow who had sent him all the papers in her possession, he 'undertook the task, and executed it with extraordinary care... he consulted French, Russian, and Turkish sources, and corresponded and interviewed exhaustively. He returned to the Crimea, hosted by the Russian engineer Todleben, who had so ably defended Sevastopol' (ibid.). The result was probably excessive, and most certainly somewhat prejudiced, out of loyalty to Raglan and 'moral indignation' against Napoleon III. However, the 'the literary ability in any case is remarkable; the spirit of the writing is never quenched by the masses of diplomatic and military information; the occasional portraits of remarkable men are admirably incisive; the style is invariably polished to the last degree, and the narrative as lucid as it is animated' (ibid.).Kinglake was one of Churchill's favourite writers. The novelist and historian Geoffrey Bocca tells how, when he asked the Great Man who he should read to improve his style, he was given the one word reply, 'Kinglake'. He followed his advice and 'read Eothen with joy and with love possessed, and put it down saying, 'Thanks, Winnie.' I knew one of Winston Churchill's unpublished secrets.' Meeting Churchill again a couple of years later, Bocca reminded him of their earlier conversation, 'told him how much I felt enriched by Eothen and asked him to recommend other reading.' The succinct reply: 'More Kinglake'.