author
Ralph Scott
A blunt, unsentimental World War I memoir brings readers into the trenches through diary entries published in 1923 under the name Ralph Scott. The book is remembered for its vivid, firsthand account of frontline life and its refusal to romanticize war.
1 Audiobook
A Soldier's Diary
by Ralph Scott
About the author
Very little biographical information about Ralph Scott is easy to confirm from reliable public sources, and even the name appears to have been used as a pen name. What can be confirmed is that A Soldier's Diary was published in 1923 and presents a firsthand account of the later stages of World War I.
Contemporary catalog and public-domain records describe the author as a soldier serving with the Royal Engineers, and later summaries of the work note its close, personal view of trench warfare. That perspective gives the book its lasting appeal: it reads less like a polished military history and more like a direct record of endurance, fear, and survival.
Because confirmed personal details are scarce, the strongest introduction to the author comes through the writing itself. For listeners interested in honest war memoirs, Ralph Scott stands out for a voice that is immediate, human, and strikingly clear-eyed about the costs of combat.