Part of Life Itself: The War Diary of Lieutenant Leslie Howard Miller, CEF

by Leslie Miller, Graham Broad (Editor)

Overview

This extensively annotated wartime diary illuminates the military service of Leslie Howard Miller (1889–1979), a Canadian soldier who served in the First World War. Miller joined the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) in 1914. In his off-duty hours, he kept this extraordinarily eloquent diary of his training, deployment overseas, service on the Western Front, and periods of leave in the United Kingdom.

Graham Broad, working from a transcription of the diary produced by Miller's family, includes a thorough introduction and afterword, as well as over 500 notes that situate and explain Miller's many references to the people, places, and events he encountered.

Unpublished for over a century, written in bracing and engaging prose, and illustrated with Miller's own drawings and unseen photographs, Part of Life Itself illuminates a bygone world and stands as one of Canada's most important wartime diaries.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781487503864
Publisher:	University of Toronto Press
Publication date:	11/26/2023
Series:	The Canadian Experience of War
Pages:	280
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.00(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Lieutenant Leslie Howard Miller was a Canadian soldier who served during the Great War.
Graham Broad is an associate professor of History at Kings College at Western University.

Table of Contents

Introduction

The War Diary of Lieutenant Leslie Howard Miller, Canadian Expeditionary Force

Afterword

Appendices: Pages from the War Diary

What People are Saying About This

Terry Copp

"A richly detailed, highly literate Canadian soldier's diary from enlistment to the armistice. The book is greatly enhanced by the editor's introduction and notes. A must read."

Tim Cook

"After being treasured by the family for over 100 years, Leslie Miller's diary is now made available to all Canadians. Miller offers unexpected insight into the experience of battle and the humanity of soldiers along the Western Front as they struggled to make sense of the war that raged around them in the maelstrom of destruction."

Editorial Reviews

"A richly detailed, highly literate Canadian soldier's diary from enlistment to the armistice. The book is greatly enhanced by the editor's introduction and notes. A must read."—Terry Copp, Director Emeritus, Laurier Centre for Military Strategic and Disarmament Studies and Professor Emeritus, Wilfrid Laurier University
"After being treasured by the family for over 100 years, Leslie Miller's diary is now made available to all Canadians. Miller offers unexpected insight into the experience of battle and the humanity of soldiers along the Western Front as they struggled to make sense of the war that raged around them in the maelstrom of destruction."—Tim Cook, author of Vimy: The Battle and the Legend

From the Publisher