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 journalis ...

, known also as a writer of novels and

essays An essay is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a letter, a paper, an article, a pamphlet, and a short story. Essays have been sub-classified as formal a ...

Biography

Montague was born and brought up in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...

, 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 let ...

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 partic ...

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 , established = , closed = , type = Public school Boys' independent day school , president = , head_label = Headmaster , head = Alan Bird , chair_label = Chair of Governors , chair = Ian Seaton , founder = John Carpenter , special ...

and Balliol College, Oxford. 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 Charles Prestwich Scott (26 October 1846 – 1 January 1932), usually cited as C. P. Scott, was a British journalist, publisher and politician. Born in Bath, Somerset, he was the editor of the ''Manchester Guardian'' (now ''the Guardian'') ...

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 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 1870 to the e ...

. 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 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 George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from ...

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

Chariots of Fire ''Chariots of Fire'' is a 1981 British historical sports drama film directed by Hugh Hudson, written by Colin Welland and produced by David Puttnam. It is based on the true story of two British athletes in the 1924 Olympics: Eric Liddell ...

.''

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

External links

*
C. E. Montague Papers
at

John Rylands Library The John Rylands Research Institute and Library is a Victorian era, late-Victorian Gothic Revival architecture, neo-Gothic building on Deansgate in Manchester, England. It is part of the University of Manchester. The library, which opened to t ...

, 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