Scrimgeour's Small Scribbling Diary 1914-1916

When young Alexander Scrimgeour lost his life at the Battle of Jutland in 1916, he had already left a legacy - complete diaries spanning the previous six years, chronicling his life a wealthy stock broker's son, then his time as a young sea cadet and finally as a Sub-Lieutenant in the Royal Navy. Scrimgeour took great pride in writing his journals, carefully recounting events with marked sincerity. Appalled by some of the actions of the British Admiralty and the Germans alike, he risked court-martial to record notorious incidents of World War I.

His candid writing and articulate and imaginative turns of phrase shed light on some extraordinary moments of the Great War. A great deal of attention is devoted to his personal life, including numerous love affairs, his relationship with his family and his anguish at the loss of close friends killed during the war. We have many accounts of Tommy, but few of Jack.

This eloquent account of the Great War from a naval standpoint redresses the balance, and is nothing less than a marvel of social and naval history.