Charles Edward Montague (1 January 1867 – 28 May 1928) was an English

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

, known also as a writer of

novels A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itself ...

and essays.

Biography

Montague was born and brought up in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, the son of an Irish

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

who had left his vocation to marry.Barbara Korte and Ann-Marie Einhaus (eds.) ''The Penguin book of First World War Stories''. London ; New York : Penguin Books, 2007. (pp. 396-7) He was educated at the City of London School and

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the f ...

. At Oxford he gained a First in Classical Moderations (1887) and a Second in Literae Humaniores (1889). In 1890 he was recruited by C. P. Scott to ''

The Manchester Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', where he became a

leader writer A leader writer is a senior journalist in a British newspaper who is charged with writing the paper's editorial either in the absence of the editor or in cases where the editor chooses not to write editorials because their editorial skills may res ...

and critic; while Scott was an M.P. between 1895 and 1906 he was ''de facto'' editor of the paper. He married Scott's daughter Madeline in 1898. While working at the paper, Montague became a supporter of

Irish Home Rule The Irish Home Rule movement was a movement that campaigned for Devolution, self-government (or "home rule") for Ireland within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It was the dominant political movement of Irish nationalism from 1 ...

. Montague was against the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

prior to its commencement, but once it started he believed that it was right to support it in the hope of a swift resolution. In 1914, Montague was 47, which was well over the age for enlistment. But in order to enlist, he dyed his white hair black to enable him to fool the

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

into accepting him.

H. W. Nevinson Henry Woodd Nevinson (11 October 1856 – 9 November 1941) was an English war correspondent during the Second Boer War and World War I, a campaigning journalist exposing slavery in western Africa, political commentator and suffragist."Nevinson ...

would later write that "Montague is the only man I know whose white hair in a single night turned dark through courage." He began as a grenadier-sergeant, and rose to lieutenant and then captain of intelligence in 1915. Later in the war, he became an armed escort for VIPs visiting the battlefield. He escorted such personalities as H.G. Wells and Bernard Shaw. After the end of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

he wrote in a strong

anti-war An anti-war movement (also ''antiwar'') is a social movement, usually in opposition to a particular nation's decision to start or carry on an armed conflict, unconditional of a maybe-existing just cause. The term anti-war can also refer to pa ...

vein. He wrote that "War hath no fury like a non-combatant." ''Disenchantment'' (1922), a collection of newspaper articles about the war, was one of the first prose works to strongly criticise the way the war was fought, and is regarded by some as a pivotal text in the development of literature about the

. John Lucas, ''The Radical Twenties''. Rutgers University Press 1999. (pp. 59-60).Peter Buitenhuis,''The Great War of Words: British, American, and Canadian propaganda and fiction, 1914-1933''. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 1987. (pp. 149–52). ''Disenchantment'' criticised the British Press' coverage of the war and the conduct of the British generals. Montague accused the latter of being influenced by the " public school ethos" which he condemned as a "gallant robust contempt for "swats" and for all who invented new means to new ends and who trained and used their brains with a will". He returned to ''The Manchester Guardian'', but felt that his role was diminishing as the years passed. He finally retired in 1925, and settled down to become a full-time writer in the last years of his life. He died in 1928 at the age of 61. Montague was the father of

Evelyn Montague Evelyn Aubrey Montague (20 March 1900 – 30 January 1948) was an English athlete and journalist. He ran in the 1924 Paris Olympics, placing sixth in the steeplechase race. Montague is portrayed in the 1981 film ''Chariots of Fire'', where he i ...

, the Olympic athlete and journalist depicted in the 1981 film '' Chariots of Fire.''

Media portrayal

Charles Edward Montague is one of the 14 main characters of the series ''

14 - Diaries of the Great War ''14 - Diaries of the Great War'' (titled ''Great War Diaries'' when aired on the BBC) is a 2014 international documentary drama series about World War I. It uses a mix of acted scenes, archive footage, and animation. All episodes were directed b ...

''. He is played by actor David Acton.

Works

*''Dramatic Values'' (1911), reviews *''The Morning's War'' (1913), a novel *''Disenchantment'' (1922), essays houghts on the First World War*''Fiery Particles'' (1923), short stories *''A Hind Let Loose'' (1924), a novel *''The Right Place'' (1924), travel writing *''Rough Justice'' (1926), a novel *''Right off the Map'' (1927), a science fiction novel *''Action'' (1928), short stories *''A Writer's Notes on His Trade'' (1930) *"Two or Three Witnesses", a short story

Notes

References

*''C. E. Montague: A Memoir'' (1929) by

Oliver Elton Oliver Elton, FBA (3 June 1861 – 4 June 1945) was an English literary scholar whose works include ''A Survey of English Literature (1730–1880)'' in six volumes, criticism, biography, and translations from several languages including Iceland ...

External links

*
C. E. Montague Papers
at John Rylands Library, Manchester. {{DEFAULTSORT:Montague, CE 1867 births 1928 deaths Writers from London English essayists 20th-century English novelists English male journalists People educated at the City of London School English people of Irish descent British male essayists English male novelists 20th-century essayists 20th-century English male writers