Douglas Haig : the British Army and the First World War

Written by acclaimed military historian, Dr Gary Sheffield, this is a revisionist biography of one of the most controversial figures in British military history. Born in Edinburgh and educated at Oxford (although he never completed his degree), General Douglas Haig is unquestionably one of British history's most notorious individuals.

Serving in the military from 1884 until 1920, he helped organize the British Expeditionary Force (BEF), commanded by Field Marshal John French, upon the outbreak of the First World War. Haig died in 1928 and was given a state funeral, one which thousands upon thousands of people attended.

Yet, it was not long before the assault on his reputation began.

Historians, soldiers and politicians alike heaped criticism onto him.

Branded a 'donkey' and nicknamed 'the butcher of the Somme', he is still regarded by several modern historians as an inept commander, who showed disregard for the lives of his men. In this compelling new biography, Gary Sheffield overturns many myths about Haig, and the British army during the First World War. The first person to scour a number of crucial sources on the general, he reveals that Haig was a much greater figure than typically portrayed.

He shows that Haig was a keen advocate of technology such as tanks and aircraft, and played huge role in turning the small, professional colonial police force of 1914 into the technologically advanced citizen army of 1918 that defeated the German army and won the greatest set of military victories in British history. In this completely original analysis, the result of a decade's research, Gary Sheffield presents General Haig in a new light and rescues this maligned man's reputation.