ISBN: 167677582X 9781676775829

Category: History / Wars & Conflicts / World War I

Page count: 253

The 1st Edition of Volume 1 contains the highest quality Black & White and Colour photo plates. To the Reader.....this book was not supposed to be. I only sought out Sir David Watson's War Diaries to find references to my grandfather, who had served with him during the Great War. In the process, I became engrossed in the diaries and read them in their entirety. Simultaneously, I sought out references to Watson in Canadian history books. Here I discovered that the man described in the history books was not the man as revealed in the diaries. Watson has been characterized as a political insider who used his wealth and connections during the war to serve himself. And, that he craved high command and used his connections to get that as well. He has likewise been judged as one of the worst Generals we had during that war. Both the diaries and letters however reveal him to be otherwise; as a man who cared deeply about the men under his command, shared their deprivations, and worked tirelessly on their behalf. And so, my original intention which was to discover more about my grandfather, subsequently morphed into a desire to set the record straight on Sir David Watson's character and war record. This has been done by publishing his War Diaries in full, and into which have been woven, letters written at the time to family, the Canadian General Staff, and friends such as Max Aitken (aka Lord Beaverbrook), including his comments to the Press. Viewed altogether, they put a different slant on the man. And, for students of Great War history, his views on American Neutrality, Generalship and the War, and his conversations with German prisoners, all make for interesting reading. Volume I covers his early life and the War years of 1914-1916, and include more than 70 photographs and maps, most seen here for the first time. I have received feedback from one reader to date; Dear Sir, I recently purchased and received the first volume of the letters and diaries of Sir David Watson you edited and published. I would like to congratulate you for your great work! As a military historian, your book will be very useful to me. I had the chance to see the original diaries a few years ago in Calgary. Have you published the second volume yet? If so is there a way to purchase it? If not is there a release date for it? Thank you kindly, Michel Litalien.