Book Review: 'The Reason Why'

Theirs not to reason why, theirs but to do and die:
Into the valley of Death rode the six hundred.

Those immortal words come from "Charge of the Light Brigade," Tennyson's classic poem about the disastrous British cavalry charge against the Russians in the Crimean War that came to symbolize warfare at its most courageous and most stupid.

The poem inspired two pretty good movies by the same name – one starring Olivia DeHavilland and Errol Flynn in 1936 and another starring Trevor Howard and Vanessa Redgrave in 1968.

But with apologies to Lord Byron, the hands down best treatment of the fateful cavalry charge during the Battle of Balaclava in October 1854 is The Reason Why, a wee masterpiece of a book by Cecil Woodham-Smith.

First published in 1953, the book is actually two small books in one.

The first half focuses on the purchase system by which aristocrats with no experience in battle literally bought their commissions and commands, which leads one to wonder how the British ever won the Battle of Waterloo, among other legendary victories, before the system was abolished by Gladstone at the end of the 19^th century.

But it is the second half of The Reason Why, a blow-by-blow account of why the Light Brigade was led to such senseless slaughter by Lord Cardigan, who had bought his way into regimental command, that begs attention because of the parallels to the war in Iraq:

* A fundamental misreading of the moment in history in which each group of leaders lived.

* The incompetence, hubris and overweaning sense of entitlement of the leaders.

* The leaders' disdain for and unwillingness to understand the enemy.

* The leaders' over-reliance on "Shock and Awe" to the detriment of basic soldiering.

* And yes, the leaders' concern about bad publicity that bordered on paranoia and a concomitant failure to take responsibility for their actions.