author
Robert Grant Watson
d. 1892
A British diplomat, soldier, and historian, he wrote sweeping works on 19th-century Persia and on colonial South America. His books stand out for combining firsthand experience with a strong interest in political history.
2 Audiobooks
Spanish and Portuguese South America during the Colonial Period; Vol. 1 of 2
by Robert Grant Watson
Spanish and Portuguese South America during the Colonial Period; Vol. 2 of 2
by Robert Grant Watson
About the author
Born in 1834 and dead in 1892, Robert Grant Watson was a British diplomat and soldier who is best remembered as a writer of history. Sources describe him as attached to the British Legation in Persia, a role that gave him direct knowledge of the region he later wrote about.
His best-known works include A History of Persia (1866) and Spanish and Portuguese South America during the Colonial Period (1884). Those books show his taste for large historical subjects, especially empires, diplomacy, and the forces shaping nations over time.
Watson's writing is still of interest to readers looking for older English-language histories with a clear connection to lived experience. While some details of his life are sparsely documented in the sources reviewed, his reputation as a 19th-century historian of Persia and South America is well supported.