Until recently, most military historians were interested almost exclusively in campaigns, strategies or specific generals; the social life of the rank and file was largely neglected. Herman Gaston de Watteville's The British Soldier: His Daily Life from Tudor to Modern Times (London: J.M. Dent, 1954) is one of the first studies of this overlooked, but essential, element of the British army. Several aspects of the subject particularly recruiting, health, education and discipline have been explored by Alan Ramsay Skelley in The Victorian Army at Home: The Recruitment and Terms and Conditions of the British Regular, 1859-1899 (MontrΘal: McGill Queen's University Press, 1977). Additional information can be found in: Correlli Barnett, Britain and Her Army, 1509-1970; a military, political and social survey (London: Allen Lane The Penguin Press, c 1970); Gwyn Harries-Jenkins, The Army in Victorian Society (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, c 1977); and John Laffin, Tommy Atkins: the story of the English soldier (London: Cassell, c 1966). One recent study has concentrated on the British soldier at QuΘbec City. Claudette Lacelle's "The British Garrison in QuΘbec City as described in newspapers from 1764 to 1840" (Ottawa: Parks Canada, 1979; History and Archaeology, number 23) reveals much about the activities of both officers and men in that city, as well as discussing the economic impact of the British army on the community.
Unfortunately, few of the regulars were literate and, as a result, there are almost no printed diaries which recount their experiences in Canada. Tom Henderson McGuffie has collected excerpts from diaries of regulars stationed all over the empire, including Canada, in Rank and File; The Common Soldier at Peace and War, 1642-1914 (London: Hutchison, 1964). The book touches on many of the subjects discussed in this volume. Many officers, on the other hand, published accounts of their years in Canada. One of those who dealt with life in the garrison, rather than with details of his travels, was James Edward Alexander in his L'Acadie; or, Seven Years' Explorations in British America... (London: H. Colburn, 1849).
Recollections of the Crimean campaign and the expedition to Kinburn in 1855, including also sporting and dramatic incidents in connection with garrison life in the Canadian lower provinces (MontrΘal: John Lovell and Son, 1907) by Frederick Vieth contains excellent, firsthand accounts.
A good, general introduction to the shortcomings of the British officer can be found in Richard Gilchrist Glover's Peninsular Preparation: The Reform of the British Army, 1795-1809 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1963), while Cecil Woodham Smith's biographical study Florence Nightingale 1820-1910 (London: Collins, 1964) provides the best account of bureaucratic bungling in the Crimea and the reform movement which grew out of it. Scott Claver has produced a very detailed examination of military punishment in his Under the Lash: A History of Corporal Punishment in the British Armed Forces... (London: Torchstream Books, 1954). There is a short study of married soldiers in Carol M. Whitfield's "Tommy Atkins' Family", Bulletin of the Association for Preservation Technology, 5(1973), pp. 65-72.
Two books which provide fascinating, photographic evidence are Boris Mollo's The British Army from Old Photographs (London: J.M. Dent, c 1975) and David Clammer's The Victorian Army in Photographs (Vancouver: Douglas David & Charles Ltd., c 1975). Although the photographs were taken outside of Canada, much of the visual documentation is relevant to the army's Canadian experience.
