Guy Thorne was the pen name of Cyril Arthur Edward Ranger Gull (1875 – 9 January 1923), a prolific English journalist and novelist best known for his novel ''
When It Was Dark: The Story of A Great Conspiracy'' (1903). He also wrote under the names C. Ranger Gull and Leonard Cresswell Ingleby.
Life and works
Thorne was educated at
Denstone College
Denstone College is a mixed, independent, boarding and day school in Denstone, Uttoxeter, Staffordshire, England. It is a Woodard School, having been founded by Nathaniel Woodard, and so Christian traditions are practised as part of Colleg ...
,
Manchester Grammar
The Manchester Grammar School (MGS) in Manchester, England, is the largest independent day school for boys in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1515 as a free grammar school next to Manchester Parish Church, it moved in 1931 to its present site at ...
, and
Oxford University
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
, although he left without taking a degree. He was on the literary staff of the
''Saturday Review'' 1897–98, writing also for
''The Bookman'' and
''The Academy''. He was editor of ''London Life'' in 1899, then joined the ''
Daily Mail
The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper and news websitePeter Wilb"Paul Dacre of the Daily Mail: The man who hates liberal Britain", ''New Statesman'', 19 December 2013 (online version: 2 January 2014) publish ...
'' and later the ''
Daily Express
The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet i ...
''. He also wrote for the gossip weekly ''Society''.
His first novel was ''The Hypocrite: A Novel of Oxford and London Life'', published anonymously in 1898. From 1900, he was engaged in writing fiction, producing about 125 novels in the succeeding years. The most famous was ''When It Was Dark'', which reached sales of 500,000 copies. The book describes the attempt by a Jew, the malevolent Constantine Schaube, to overthrow the whole of the Christian world by fraudulently disproving the
Resurrection
Resurrection or anastasis is the concept of coming back to life after death. In a number of religions, a dying-and-rising god is a deity which dies and is resurrected. Reincarnation is a similar process hypothesized by other religions, which ...
.
After its publication, the
Bishop of London
A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution.
In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...
preached about ''When It Was Dark'' at
Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...
. Calling it "a remarkable work of fiction" he said it depicts how the world would be if the Resurrection were proved to be a gigantic fraud. ". . .you feel the darkness creeping round the world, you see . . . crime and violence increase in every part of the world. When you see how darkness settles down upon the human spirit, regarding the Christian record as a fable, then you quit with something like adequate thanksgiving, and thank God it is light because of the awful darkness when it was dark."
''When It Was Dark'' has been criticised for its stereotyping of Jews and their portrayal as intent on destroying what Thorne viewed as the most valuable element of British life – the Christian faith and the spiritual values associated with it. Other critics have also labelled the book as anti-Semitic.
A sequel ''When It Was Light'' (1906), often attributed to Gull, was probably written by
George Reginald Bacchus
George Reginald Bacchus (1874–1945) was an English author. He was the author of a number of erotic books published by the Erotika Biblion Society.James G. Nelson, Peter Mendes, ''Publisher to the decadents: Leonard Smithers in the careers of Bea ...
.
Thorne was a prolific author of horror and mystery novels which sometimes have a redeeming bizarreness. His novels include: ''Made in His Image'' (1906), ''The Soul-Stealer'' (1906), ''The Angel'' (1908), ''Not in Israel'' (dedicated to
Cecil Broadhurst, 1913), ''And it Came to Pass'' (1915), ''The Secret Sea-Plane'' (1915), ''The Enemies of England'' (1915),'' Lucky Mr Loder'' (1918), ''The Secret Monitor'' (1918), ''The Air Pirate'' (1919), ''Doris Moore'' (1919), ''The House of Danger'' (1920), ''The City in the Clouds'' (1921),'' The Love Hater'' (1921), ''The Dark Dominion'' (1923) and ''When the World Reeled'' (1924). He also wrote numerous essays and a biography of
Frederick Nicholas Charrington (1850–1936), the English social reformer who devoted his life to
Temperance
Temperance may refer to:
Moderation
*Temperance movement, movement to reduce the amount of alcohol consumed
*Temperance (virtue), habitual moderation in the indulgence of a natural appetite or passion
Culture
*Temperance (group), Canadian danc ...
work.
Thorne was a close friend of the publisher
Leonard Smithers
Leonard Charles Smithers (19 December 1861 – 19 December 1907) was a London bookseller and publisher associated with the Decadent movement.
Biography
Born in Sheffield, Smithers worked as a solicitor, qualifying in 1884,Jon R. Godsall, ''Th ...
and a friend of the poet
Ernest Dowson
Ernest Christopher Dowson (2 August 186723 February 1900) was an English poet, novelist, and short-story writer who is often associated with the Decadent movement.
Biography
Ernest Dowson was born in Lee, then in Kent, in 1867. His great-uncle ...
. He was known for his heavy drinking. ''Who's Who 1906'' listed his recreations as shooting and French literature, and his address as Trink,
Lelant
Lelant ( kw, Lannanta) is a village in west Cornwall, England, UK. It is on the west side of the Hayle Estuary, about southeast of St Ives and one mile (1.6 km) west of Hayle.Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 203 ''Land's End'' The vi ...
, Cornwall.
Guy Thorne died in London on 9 January 1923.
A biography, ''Guy Thorne: C Ranger Gull: Edwardian Tabloid Novelist and his Unseemly Brotherhood'', by David Wilkinson was published by Rivendale Press, High Wycombe in 2012.
Works
The following is a ''partial'' list of works by Guy Thorne:
* ''The Hypocrite'' 1898
* ''When It Was Dark: The Story of a Great Conspiracy'' 1904
* ''A Lost Cause'' 1905
* ''The Soul Stealer'' 1906
* ''The Serf'' ~ 1907
* ''"I Believe" and other essays'' 1907
* ''The Angel'' 1908
* ''The Socialist'' 1909
* ''House of Torment'' 1911
* ''The Drunkard'' 1912
* ''The Great Acceptance: The Life Story of F. N. Charrington'' 1913
* ''Chance in Chains: A Story of Monte Carlo'' 1914
* ''The Secret Service Submarine: A Story of the Present War'' 1915
* ''Rescuing Rupert '' 1917
* ''The Air Pirate'' 1919
* '' Lapse of the Bishop 1920
* ''The City in the Clouds'' 1922
As C. Ranger-Gull
* ''A Story of the Stage''
* ''Portalone''
* ''Retribution'', reissued as a ''
Daily Mail
The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper and news websitePeter Wilb"Paul Dacre of the Daily Mail: The man who hates liberal Britain", ''New Statesman'', 19 December 2013 (online version: 2 January 2014) publish ...
'' sixpenny novel no. 116 in 1910, illustrated by
G. H. Evison.
* ''The Harvest of Love''
* ''Back To Lilac Land''
* ''The Price of Pity'' (1905)
References
External links
*
*
*
*
Works by Cyril Arthur Edward Ranger Gullat
The Online Books Page
The Online Books Page is an index of e-text books available on the Internet. It is edited by John Mark Ockerbloom and is hosted by the library of the University of Pennsylvania. The Online Books Page lists over 2 million books and has several feat ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thorne, Guy
1875 births
1923 deaths
21st-century English novelists
English essayists
English male journalists
English mystery writers
People educated at Manchester Grammar School
People educated at Denstone College
British male essayists
English male novelists
People from Lelant
21st-century essayists
21st-century English male writers