The diary reveals a woman who took it for granted that she should do everything possible to aid the war effort and details her care of the sick and wounded at No. 3 Canadian General Hospital (McGill), forty miles behind the trenches, as well as at No. 2 Canadian Casualty Clearing Station, where she was within range of the shells.

Combined with Susan Mann's sensitive and thoughtful introduction, the Gass diary provides a fresh look at Canadian participation in the First World War. It will appeal to a wide range of readers with an interest in military history, women's history, medical history, gender and war, diaries, and the history of nursing.

Susan Mann is a historian and president emeritus of York University.

Clare Gass' profile page

Susan Mann is a historian, member of the Order of Canada, president emeritus of York University, author of A Dream of Nation: A Social and Intellectual History of Quebec, and editor of The War Diary of Clare Gass, 1915-1918.

Susan Mann's profile page

"A fresh contribution to our understanding of the military and medical history during this period, shedding light on the ambivalent attitudes towards the war that were held by the people closest to it. Mann's introduction is sensitively written, and reveals that the editor has done considerable background research on the subject." Jonathan F. Vance, author of Death So Noble: Memory, Meaning, and the First World War
"A major contribution to the field of Canadian military and women's history. Not only does Mann bring into the public domain a primary source hitherto unknown to scholars, but she also uses her splendid introduction to offer a timely critique of military and nursing history that continues to quickly pass over the work of the Nursing Sisters. The diary is exceedingly rich in detail and throughout offers evidence of the emotional turmoil and war weariness that we hope to find in primary sources. Unlike many diaries that become repetitious and boring, this one often delights and surprises. I read it in one gulp and wished for more." Margaret Conrad, Department of History, Acadia University