author
Harold Barclay
1872–1922
A physician rather than a career man of letters, he left behind a vivid firsthand diary of wartime medicine in France. His writing brings World War I close through the daily work, strain, and human moments of a doctor serving overseas.
1 Audiobook
A Doctor in France, 1917-1919: The Diary of Harold Barclay
by Harold Barclay
About the author
Born in New York City on August 14, 1872, and raised in part at his family’s home in Cazenovia, New York, Harold Barclay trained as a doctor after earlier studies that included time at Harvard. He served in the Spanish-American War and later joined the American Expeditionary Forces during World War I, where he worked in military medicine in France.
He is best known today for A Doctor in France, 1917-1919, a diary published after his death in 1923. The book records his experiences with unusual immediacy, showing both the demands of wartime medical service and the texture of everyday life behind the front.
Barclay was promoted to lieutenant-colonel in late 1918 and returned home in early 1919. He died in Biarritz, France, on July 27, 1922, while traveling with his wife. Though not a prolific literary figure, he remains memorable for leaving a clear, personal account of a doctor’s life in wartime.