John Alfred Terraine though not permanently associated with any academic institution, was a leading British military historian. He is best known for his persistent defence of Douglas Haig

Douglas Haig

Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig was a British soldier and senior commander during World War I.Douglas Haig may also refer to:* Club Atlético Douglas Haig, a football club from Argentina* Douglas Haig , American actor...

 and also as the lead screenwriter

Screenwriter

Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...

 on the BBC

BBC

The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

's landmark 1960s documentary The Great War

The Great War (documentary)

The Great War is a 26-episode documentary series from 1964 on the First World War. It was a co-production involving the resources of the Imperial War Museum, the British Broadcasting Corporation, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation...

.

Terraine was educated at Stamford School

Stamford School

Stamford School is an English independent school situated in the market town of Stamford, Lincolnshire, England. It has been a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference since 1920.-History:...

 and at Keble College, Oxford

Keble College, Oxford

Keble College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its main buildings are on Parks Road, opposite the University Museum and the University Parks. The college is bordered to the north by Keble Road, to the south by Museum Road, and to the west by Blackhall...

. After leaving Oxford, in 1943, he joined BBC radio and continued to work for the BBC for 18 years, latterly as its Pacific and South African Programme Organiser.

Among other series, Terraine was associate producer and chief screenwriter of the 1963-64 Great War television series, and co-wrote its sequel, The Lost Peace (1965). After resigning from the BBC in 1961, he worked as a freelance television screenwriter.

Terraine produced 16 books, most of them dealing with aspects of the great European wars of the 20th century and numerous articles and book reviews for The Daily Telegraph

The Daily Telegraph

The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...

. His last book, Business in Great Waters: The U-Boat Wars, 1916-1945 was published in 1989.

He was the Founder President of the Western Front Association from 1980 to 1997, after which he became its Patron. For sheer scholarship, the quality and accessibility of his writing and for his debunking of historical myths, Terraine was one of the outstanding military historians of the 20th century.

In 1964, he edited a collection of diaries written by General James Jack during the First World War. They became a bestseller in the United Kingdom.

He was for many years a member of the Royal United Services Institute for Defence Studies; he had been awarded the Institute's Chesney Gold Medal in 1982. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society

Royal Historical Society

The Royal Historical Society was founded in 1868. The premier society in the United Kingdom which promotes and defends the scholarly study of the past, it is based at University College London...

in 1987.

Books

• Mons: The Retreat to Victory (1960).
• Douglas Haig: The Educated Soldier (1963).
• General Jack's Diary (1964).
• The First World War (1965).
• Trafalgar (1975).
• The Road to Passchendaele (1977).
• To Win A War: 1918, the Year of Victory (1978).
• The Smoke and the Fire (1980).
• The Right of the Line (1985).
• Business in Great Waters: The U-Boat Wars, 1916-1945 (1989).