C. E. Montague is remembered not as a novelist but as a celebrated member of the staff of The Manchester Guardian before World War I. David Ayerst wrote that Montague was "first in the estimation of his colleagues and first in the glamour that his reputation with young men and women brought the paper throughout the first half of this century." Indeed, the reputation of The Manchester Guardian as a major exponent of liberal-left political opinion owed much to the views of its distinguished "leader-writer" (editorialist). But Montague also enjoyed a moderately successful career as a novelist, essayist, and short-story writer during his lifetime and deserves to be remembered as a minor writer who made some significant contributions to the literature of World War I.

Born at Ealing on 1 January 1867, Charles Edward Montague was one of four sons of Francis Montague and Rosa McCabe Montague, both of Irish...