A Brief History of the Crimean War: History's Most ... (ISBN 0786718307)

Very good for someone looking for a start:
This book is excellent for someone looking to learn the basics of the Crimean war.It is beautiful in its ability to bring to life the economic, political and military circumstances which lead to this war, its also critical of their failures and successes. Very good book, I highly recommend it to anyone who is a military history buff but knows little about the Crimean war & wish to find a book to "jump start" their further reading into this unique and fascinating conflict of Victorian Era warfare.

Mere introduction, just two maps, and too many inconsistencies:
This volume spends half of its already slim 300 pages just leading up to the conflict. Given inconsistencies in the remainder of the material however I question the veracity of the seemingly excellent introductory material. For instance, in discussing the Baltic naval campaign, first the author mentions that the French were only able to contribute one ship to begin with as they were otherwise entirely tied up in the Mediterranean. Mere pages later however there is mention of an entire French fleet. Furthermore, in discussing the intended landing on the Crimean peninsula, first the author mentions the mouth of Katcha river, but later says the landing is set for Eupatoria much further up Kalamita Bay, and indeed the site of the actual landing. At least there is a map showing the detail of the Crimean coast; the only other map is of the entire Black Sea, though the author continually points out the other theaters of the war, such as the Baltic naval engagements alluded to above, for which a map would have been very useful.