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Unpublished for over a century, written in bracing and engaging prose, and illustrated with Miller’s own drawings and unseen photographs, Part of Life Itself illuminates a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.

Lieutenant Leslie Howard Miller was a Canadian soldier who served during the Great War.

Leslie Miller's profile page

Graham Broad is a professor in the department of history at King’s University College at the University of Western Ontario, in London. A specialist in the field of Canadian cultural history, he has published in The Beaver, Canadian Military History, Ontario History, the Urban History Review, and several other magazines and journals. In 2007, he received the “Most Valued Professor” award from the graduating students at King’s University.

Graham Broad's profile page