A fascinating view of the Crimean War from an aide to the controversial Stratford Canning, ambassador ambassador to the Ottoman empire. Stratford Canning, 1st Viscount Stratford de Redcliffe, KG, GCB, PC (1786-1880) was a British diplomat and politician, best known as the longtime British Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire. In 1841 he was re-appointed Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, a position he held for the next 17 years. Lord Stratford came to be seen as one of the leading figures in Constantinople, as British influence over the Porte increased and the Turks came to be seen more and more as British clients.