No Place for Ladies : The Untold Story of Women in The Crimean War

History views the Crimean War as a conflict marred by bungling, and many British officers emerged with their reputations in tatters. While military glory was lacking, nurses came to symbolise the glory of empire, working long hours in filthy conditions to tend the wounded and dying. Elsewhere, courageous women such as officer’s wife Fanny Duberly provided harrowing eye-witness reports of the atrocities of war. The pioneering work of Florence Nightingale has become legendary, but in No Place for Ladies Helen Rappaport champions the contribution of the women whose stories have gone largely untold – the nurses, cantinières and army wives who played a vital, but often overlooked, role in the theatres of war. Mary Seacole’s establishment of ‘The British Hotel’ near Balaclava supplied fatigued soldiers with much-needed comforts and medical attention, earning her the love and respect of many men, but no official recognition. This book gives her achievements the attention they deserve. No Place for Ladies is a vivid, poignant and often haunting account of remarkable women in extraordinary circumstances.