Douglas Haig: War Diaries & Letters 19141918 by Douglas Haig and Gary Sheffield Hardcover ( W & N ) (Weidenfeld & Nicolson)

The editors have selected passages from Sir Douglas Haig's manuscript war diary, housed in the National Library of Scotland, spanning the period 4 August 1914 to 30 December 1918. The diary passages are supplemented by extracts from a number of Haig's wartime letters to his wife and others. The variations between manuscript passages and Haig's post-war typescript are noted, although purists will regret that the editors have reduced Haig's use of capital letters, pruned many of his exclamation marks and spelled out surnames in the text rather than use explanatory footnotes. The selection is valuable as an indication of Haig's manifold responsibilities as Commander of the British armies on the Western Front: his thoroughness, generally even temperament and sense of democratic accountability (in contrast to the attitude of Sir William Robertson) come through clearly. The selection, however, has clearly been made to showcase these better qualities: passages from the diary showing Haig's less attractive side have been omitted consistently (although an entry from 4 September 1916 (p. 226) reveals Haig's unpleasant habit of judging the effectiveness of an attack by the number of casualties the attacking force sustained). From the perspective of military operations what the selection demonstrates is Haig's remoteness from the battlefield--an occupational hazard when commanding such a large force, but greatly increased by the corresponding remoteness of his army commanders and the interminable and culpable optimism of Brigadier-General John Charteris. In an otherwise competent Introduction, the editors base a favourable judgement of Haig on `[a] cool assessment of all the available evidence', which takes us back to 1922 and George Dewar's grotesque apologia (`long and cool study of the evidence' (George A.B. Dewar assist. Lieut.-Col. J.H. Boraston, Sir Douglas Haig's Command: December 19, 1915, to November 11, 1918, 2 vols. (London: Constable, 1922), I, p. 47). That is polemic, not scholarship.