I Read Books: The Angel Of Mons

The Angel Of Mons: The Bowmen And Other Legends Of The War

Arthur Machen (previously seen here with his novella The Great God Pan) wrote a story about a miracle of English archers appearing during the worst part of the battle in 1914 on the Western Front. He would probably have forgotten about it, as would we, except that some people took it as fact.

That story and some other ones by him about the war are collected here. With it is his clear explanation that it wasn’t true and he made it up.

Obviously it’s occasionally repeated as a folktale, even today, despite him telling everyone the origin and him writing more than one article pointing out difficulties in the most prominent variants.

Read This: For a fascinating look at how a bit of fiction made it into public consciousness as a true story
Don’t Read This: It’s fake news
Out Of Copyright: And available online