author
Robert Grant Watson
d. 1892
A 19th-century British diplomat and soldier who turned firsthand experience into wide-ranging history, he wrote on Persia, diplomacy, and colonial South America. His books reflect a Victorian-era drive to explain world affairs to English readers.
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
Robert Grant Watson was a British diplomat, soldier, and historical writer who lived from about 1834 to 1892. Sources connected with his works describe him as serving in the British Indian Army and later in the diplomatic service, and he is especially remembered for writing substantial histories based on political and international subjects.
His best-known books include A History of Persia and Spanish and Portuguese South America during the Colonial Period. Those works show his interest in empire, diplomacy, and the forces shaping nations, and they helped preserve English-language accounts of regions that many Victorian readers would have known only dimly.
Watson's background in public service seems to have shaped the practical, documentary character of his writing. Even now, his books remain of interest to readers looking for older historical narratives and a window into how the 19th century interpreted Persia, South America, and the workings of diplomacy.