NOT many Great War generals were lumbered with such bad publicity as Douglas Haig, who was largely written off by his contemporaries as an incompetent nincompoop, a view that still exists today.

Gary Mead, however, tries to dispel that view and discover the man behind the myth. The Good Soldier looks beyond Haig's condemnation to what made him tick. Rather than concentrating on his achievements in the First World War, which only represented a fraction of Haig's military career, Mead delves into his childhood as well as his later life.

We read, for instance, of Haig's difficulties in combining his essentially Victorian upbringing with the modern advances in warfare technology, such as tanks, radios and aircrafts, about his unquestioning devotion to the British Empire and his unshakeable faith in victory which led him to make serious misjudgements on the battlefield. But we also read about his tireless work for the welfare of ex-servicemen and his refusal to give the public what we would today call "spin and soundbites" - something which at the time was held very much against him.

This biography is a comprehensive study of a largely misunderstood man, which provides a fascinating human interest look at First World War history.