Major Geoffrey Cecil Gilbert McNeill-Moss (11 December 1885 – 13 August 1954) was a British soldier and writer, who published under the name Geoffrey Moss. Moss was educated at Rugby and the

Royal Military College, Sandhurst The Royal Military College (RMC), founded in 1801 and established in 1802 at Great Marlow and High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, England, but moved in October 1812 to Sandhurst, Berkshire, was a British Army military academy for training infant ...

, and was commissioned into the

Grenadier Guards "Shamed be whoever thinks ill of it." , colors = , colors_label = , march = Slow: " Scipio" , mascot = , equipment = , equipment ...

in 1905. In 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 ...

he reached the rank of Major, before retiring in 1919 to devote himself to his writing. His first novel, ''Sweet Pepper'' (1923) – a

romance novel A romance novel or romantic novel generally refers to a type of genre fiction novel which places its primary focus on the relationship and romantic love between two people, and usually has an "emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending." Pr ...

set in the former Austro-Hungarian Empire in the aftermath of the First World War – was a bestseller and was followed a year later by the popular and influential short story collection, ''Defeat'' (1923). Thereafter Moss published roughly a book a year until the outbreak of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, his œuvre comprising novels, short story collections, verse, children's stories and works of non-fiction on European politics and military matters. Although entirely forgotten today, Moss's works seem to have been extremely popular among general readers (if not always among

critics A critic is a person who communicates an assessment and an opinion of various forms of creative works such as art, literature, music, cinema, theater, fashion, architecture, and food. Critics may also take as their subject social or governme ...

) and influential among his fellow writers. ''Defeat'', which is made up of six thematically linked short stories dealing with life in Germany in the wake of defeat in the First World War, influenced the attitudes of a number of British writers towards Germany in the interwar period, including

Graham Greene Henry Graham Greene (2 October 1904 – 3 April 1991) was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading English novelists of the 20th century. Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquir ...

who attributed his pro-German sympathies in the early 1920s to Moss's stories. The popular appeal of the subject matter is also attested to by the fact that " Isn't Life Wonderful!", the penultimate story in the collection, was made into an acclaimed film by American director D. W. Griffith in the mid-1920s. Nevertheless, despite a prolific output between the wars and the popular appeal of his work, Moss never received plaudits from the critics, who tended to dismiss his fiction as sentimental and old-fashioned.

Bibliography

* ''Notes on Elementary Field Training'' (n.d.) * ''Sweet Pepper'' (1923) * ''Defeat'' (1924, reprinted 1925 and 1932) * ''Whipped Cream'' (1926) * ''New Wine: A Nocturne in Tinsel'' (1927) * ''The Three Cousins'' (1928) * ''That Other Love'' (1929) * ''Little Green Apples'' (1930) * ''Wet Afternoon'' (1931) * ''A Modern Melody'' (1932) * ''I Face the Stars'' (1933) * ''Thursby'' (1933) * ''A Box of Dates'' – “History Rhymes for Children and Grown-Up People” (1934) * ''The Epic of the Alcazar: A History of the Siege of the Toldeo Alcazar, 1936'' (1937) * ''The Legend of Badajoz'' (1937) * ''Standing up to Hitler'' (1939)

References

*Obituary, ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'', 16 August 1954 {{DEFAULTSORT:Moss, Geoffrey 1885 births 1954 deaths British Army personnel of World War I British people of the Spanish Civil War English writers Grenadier Guards officers Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst People educated at Rugby School