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A Class Apart: The Private Pictures of Montague Glover
Montague Glover was an architect, an army office awarded the Military Cross for bravery during World War I, a talented amateur photographer, and a homosexual. When he died in 1983 at the age of eighty-six he left behind thousands of photographs spanning the period from 1918 to the 1950s. They document the three great obsessions of his life: the search for "rough trade" on the streets of London; men in uniform; and the handsome East End lover with whom he shared his life for over fifty years - surmounting all obstacles of prejudice, class difference and separation.
James Gardiner has selected the most evocative of Montague Glover's photographs and put them into context with a commentary constructed from his own research into gay history, fragments of gay writing contemporary with the photographs, Glover's own wartime diary, and letters written to him by the men he photographed and loved.
The result is a remarkable story; not only of the private life of one gay man, but of the whole hidden history of what gay men really looked like, felt and dreamed in the first fifty years of this century.
James Gardiner has selected the most evocative of Montague Glover's photographs and put them into context with a commentary constructed from his own research into gay history, fragments of gay writing contemporary with the photographs, Glover's own wartime diary, and letters written to him by the men he photographed and loved.
The result is a remarkable story; not only of the private life of one gay man, but of the whole hidden history of what gay men really looked like, felt and dreamed in the first fifty years of this century.
144 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1992
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About the author
James Gardiner
44 books3 followersAs a man who has lived a colorful life including sports accolades, pursuing a Hollywood celebrity lifestyle, his own television show, personal and business coaching, and even a Chippendale bow tie, James has now embarked on traveling and speaking about his powerful new memoir, All in with Love: my journey to the hero within. This book chronicles his amazing life experiences and accomplishments as well as showcases how he turned poor choices and failure into a recipe for personal growth. But above all it is a story of reconnection. Of getting back to the wonder and curiosity of the inner child and living life to its glorious potential. Beautifully and compellingly written, his story telling is not only entertaining its readers but also providing them with deep introspective questions and thoughts about life and their younger selves.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
June 8, 2012
I found my way to this book from the cover photograph that graces my copy of Coleman Dowell’s Too Much Flesh and Jabez.
Here is the photograph:
This photograph intrigued me. It also disturbed me, as initially I thought it was a portrait of Coleman Dowell and I did not want to think of him posing for such a picture, along with the suggestion that the man with the monstrous cock was some kind of self-portrait. I am generally not interested in my favorite dead authors’ cocks. But then I google-imaged Mr. Dowell and laid that problem to rest. It is not him. But the photo still intrigued me.
A very large cock is at the center of the novel and every time I picked up the book I was confronted with a very large cock. But is it really all that large? In the novel, yes, it is monstrous; but I’m not so sure about the cock on the cover. There is some illusionism at work here. Back when the picture was snapped men often wore their pants very high up their torsos. When looking at the photo, given the slight thrusting out of the subjects hips, the eye is drawn to the very prominent outline of a semi-erect cock, the tip of which is a good foot, foot and a half from the belt-line, so that to our more modern eyes, which are accustomed to lower belt-lines, the cock gives an initial impression of being possibly 15 or 16 inches long as instinctively measured from 2 or 3 inches from the belt-line, which by any standards qualifies as a monstrous cock. But look again, moving the belt-line down in your mind’s eye, and the cock becomes maybe 8 inches long, which is just a standard good-sized cock, an inch or two longer than average. Granted, the cock in the photo does appear rather thick, which added to its slightly longer than average length makes it an impressive appendage, but still far short of the monstrous cock featured in the book.
Still it intrigued me, even after dispelling its illusion. Who is this man and why is he staring off into space sporting a semi-erect impressively sized cock while leaning against an old fence in a field? Believe it or not at first I didn’t read the image as erotica, but as an image of innocence and beauty that accidentally features the outlines of a cock. I took the semi-erection as an accidental touch. But then how could that possibly be? Everything in the image is there to draw the eye to the outline of the cock, so how could its fact of being there be an accident?
So I looked for the photo credits on the back of the book, googled what I found, came across this book, which I promptly searched online for in my library, and literally within minutes it was in my hands. Though not without reluctance. I had never visited the “male sexuality” section of the Van Pelt Library on the campus of The University of Pennsylvania. When I ended up at the end of the trail of the Library of Congress classification number I was confronted with by far the most used and abused book on the shelf. Every corner dog-eared and folded over. The book itself limp with overuse. Before deciding to check it out I actually riffled the pages to make sure none were stuck together. None were, so I headed downstairs to the desk.
Turns out the book is in fact erotica, but erotica of a bygone era when erotica, especially gay male erotica, was rather scarce. It is a book that collects the photographs and letters left behind by Montague Glover after his death in the 1980’s. The man featured in the photo on the cover of my book was his long-time lover, Ralph, a working class man, who would oblige Montague, an officer and architect, by assuming various poses, wearing various working class “uniforms”, while often sporting a semi-erect cock. Also featured in the book are photos of other working class blokes who voluntarily (or in some cases involuntarily) posed for photos that were later put to private erotic uses.
A good part of the book is a lovers’ trove documenting the long term live-in relationship of two men who, while luckier than most because they were actually able to live and love together, still had to live lives of concealment and subterfuge in a society largely incapable of accepting their sexual orientation. The book also offers a brief history of how gay men “got by” in England during the first half of the twentieth century –where they went, how they met up, etc. – and how class-oriented the society was and how gay men of the upper classes were highly attracted to the men of the lower classes. It is all rather interesting, but also rather sad, given the men’s need to lurk and sneak about and develop various lingos and body languages to get across their desires without others noticing. But then I can also imagine how all this sneakiness increased the sexual anticipation and satisfaction.
It is a touching book and a book, especially the copy I read, that has itself been touched quite a bit.
Here is the photograph:
This photograph intrigued me. It also disturbed me, as initially I thought it was a portrait of Coleman Dowell and I did not want to think of him posing for such a picture, along with the suggestion that the man with the monstrous cock was some kind of self-portrait. I am generally not interested in my favorite dead authors’ cocks. But then I google-imaged Mr. Dowell and laid that problem to rest. It is not him. But the photo still intrigued me.
A very large cock is at the center of the novel and every time I picked up the book I was confronted with a very large cock. But is it really all that large? In the novel, yes, it is monstrous; but I’m not so sure about the cock on the cover. There is some illusionism at work here. Back when the picture was snapped men often wore their pants very high up their torsos. When looking at the photo, given the slight thrusting out of the subjects hips, the eye is drawn to the very prominent outline of a semi-erect cock, the tip of which is a good foot, foot and a half from the belt-line, so that to our more modern eyes, which are accustomed to lower belt-lines, the cock gives an initial impression of being possibly 15 or 16 inches long as instinctively measured from 2 or 3 inches from the belt-line, which by any standards qualifies as a monstrous cock. But look again, moving the belt-line down in your mind’s eye, and the cock becomes maybe 8 inches long, which is just a standard good-sized cock, an inch or two longer than average. Granted, the cock in the photo does appear rather thick, which added to its slightly longer than average length makes it an impressive appendage, but still far short of the monstrous cock featured in the book.
Still it intrigued me, even after dispelling its illusion. Who is this man and why is he staring off into space sporting a semi-erect impressively sized cock while leaning against an old fence in a field? Believe it or not at first I didn’t read the image as erotica, but as an image of innocence and beauty that accidentally features the outlines of a cock. I took the semi-erection as an accidental touch. But then how could that possibly be? Everything in the image is there to draw the eye to the outline of the cock, so how could its fact of being there be an accident?
So I looked for the photo credits on the back of the book, googled what I found, came across this book, which I promptly searched online for in my library, and literally within minutes it was in my hands. Though not without reluctance. I had never visited the “male sexuality” section of the Van Pelt Library on the campus of The University of Pennsylvania. When I ended up at the end of the trail of the Library of Congress classification number I was confronted with by far the most used and abused book on the shelf. Every corner dog-eared and folded over. The book itself limp with overuse. Before deciding to check it out I actually riffled the pages to make sure none were stuck together. None were, so I headed downstairs to the desk.
Turns out the book is in fact erotica, but erotica of a bygone era when erotica, especially gay male erotica, was rather scarce. It is a book that collects the photographs and letters left behind by Montague Glover after his death in the 1980’s. The man featured in the photo on the cover of my book was his long-time lover, Ralph, a working class man, who would oblige Montague, an officer and architect, by assuming various poses, wearing various working class “uniforms”, while often sporting a semi-erect cock. Also featured in the book are photos of other working class blokes who voluntarily (or in some cases involuntarily) posed for photos that were later put to private erotic uses.
A good part of the book is a lovers’ trove documenting the long term live-in relationship of two men who, while luckier than most because they were actually able to live and love together, still had to live lives of concealment and subterfuge in a society largely incapable of accepting their sexual orientation. The book also offers a brief history of how gay men “got by” in England during the first half of the twentieth century –where they went, how they met up, etc. – and how class-oriented the society was and how gay men of the upper classes were highly attracted to the men of the lower classes. It is all rather interesting, but also rather sad, given the men’s need to lurk and sneak about and develop various lingos and body languages to get across their desires without others noticing. But then I can also imagine how all this sneakiness increased the sexual anticipation and satisfaction.
It is a touching book and a book, especially the copy I read, that has itself been touched quite a bit.
July 20, 2022
Beautiful, poignant, important—a collective queer treasure.
April 3, 2013
I have no idea how I ended up with this book but it has proven to be a wonderful find. The story itself seems fairly unique in that it is one that is so well documented and of course photographed. Monty liked taking photos of males (in uniform or working class work attire) and Ralph obviously liked being photographed and it seems a match made in heaven. If Ralph were alive today I am sure he would have no problems being employed as a world class model as he had all the attributes - the stunning good looks, the patience and seems totally unselfconscious in the photos that are in the book. There are very few of Montague however but he himself was largely normal looking and unlikely to stand out in a crowd. It's a beautiful love story and the book is very readable. Buy it if you can.
June 9, 2010
Who was Montague Glover? No-one, really. But therein lies the reason why his legacy (boxes and boxes of letters and photos) is so very important in gay history. Just an ordinary man, a son of middle-class parents who was sent to a minor public school.
But by cataloging his life, collecting images of men, writing ordinary and heart-warming love letters, and most importantly by taking endless photos of men he found attractive, he paints a picture of a gay man’s life, well-adjusted and ‘ordinary,’
The book is photo-heavy, as you would expect and is split into eight sections and I’ll cover a few only.
The Story
Basic intro to the man’s life. An English middle-class life. The army straight from school and off to the trenches where he was awarded the Military Cross. Then university and 30 years as an architect. As well as his photos, he collected images of men he found attractive from newspaper clippings and magazines, seeing as homoerotic art wasn’t exactly freely available!
Rough Trade
“In common with many other middle and upper class men of his class and generation, Monty Glover was principally attracted to working class men. Gardiner purports that perhaps this is because working-class men were “manly” and completely non-effeminate. Like all the photos of unnamed men in the book, it is unlikely that most of these young men were in fact homosexual, but rather approached by Glover and simply asked to pose. As a Brit it was fascinating to see the clothes, hats and shoes from the 20′s onwards, the detailing of the clothes (belts, scarves, boots) essential to any writer of historical men in these eras. Monty shows us delivery boys, postmen, barrowboys, farmhands – and soon you get a fair idea of Mr Glover’s taste in men! As well as candid shots of real people, there’s a lovely section of posed studio style shots, most likely done in Monty’s house, where young lovelies pose in various states of dress and undress. Prostitutes or just young men eager for a thrill, we’ll never know.
Soldier Boys
Monty started taking photos of soldiers after he signed up in 1916, and in 1918, the year he was awarded the MC, he kept a diary, snippets of this are quoted in the book and show that although dealing with lice, rats, dead Bosche and horror on a daily basis, he still found time for love. It is at this time he meets Ernest (Ernie) with whom he has at least one “night of his life.”
Ralph
Quite simply, the love of Monty’s life, and to look at him, it’s not hard to understand why. Coming from a working-class background, but with the looks of an Aryan angel, photogenic and very obviously hung like a donkey, Ralph is to die for. However, when it could very easily have happened that this younger man could have been nothing more than a kept man, staying with Glover for sex and money, it didn’t happen that way. This is very clearly a love affair with a capital L, which you cannot help but see in their extensive and lavishly adoring mutual love-letters. A large portion of these were sent during the second world war, when Ralph was drafted into the RAF in 1940. Indeed, it’s hard – reading a selection of these letters which are quoted in the book – to understand how these letters got past the censor! It’s wonderful that they did though, or we would miss out on lines like this written by Ralph to Monty in November 1940:
Monty and Ralph lived together (after meeting around 1930) for fifty years. The photographs of their lives together (other than the beautiful, posed, and artistic shots of Ralph) are ordinary and heartwarming for their ordinariness. Sitting in their sitting room, pictures of their bath, Ralph making toast, having breakfast, Monty shaving. Love in every image.
When Monty died in 1983, he left everything to Ralph, but Ralph went into a decline and died four years later.
Anyone with any interest in gay history will find this a resource they can’t be without, particularly if writing of gay men from 1910 onwards, anyone with an interest in photography will find it fascinating. But really, anyone with a heart cannot be moved by this book and the social record it has saved for posterity.
But by cataloging his life, collecting images of men, writing ordinary and heart-warming love letters, and most importantly by taking endless photos of men he found attractive, he paints a picture of a gay man’s life, well-adjusted and ‘ordinary,’
The book is photo-heavy, as you would expect and is split into eight sections and I’ll cover a few only.
The Story
Basic intro to the man’s life. An English middle-class life. The army straight from school and off to the trenches where he was awarded the Military Cross. Then university and 30 years as an architect. As well as his photos, he collected images of men he found attractive from newspaper clippings and magazines, seeing as homoerotic art wasn’t exactly freely available!
Rough Trade
“In common with many other middle and upper class men of his class and generation, Monty Glover was principally attracted to working class men. Gardiner purports that perhaps this is because working-class men were “manly” and completely non-effeminate. Like all the photos of unnamed men in the book, it is unlikely that most of these young men were in fact homosexual, but rather approached by Glover and simply asked to pose. As a Brit it was fascinating to see the clothes, hats and shoes from the 20′s onwards, the detailing of the clothes (belts, scarves, boots) essential to any writer of historical men in these eras. Monty shows us delivery boys, postmen, barrowboys, farmhands – and soon you get a fair idea of Mr Glover’s taste in men! As well as candid shots of real people, there’s a lovely section of posed studio style shots, most likely done in Monty’s house, where young lovelies pose in various states of dress and undress. Prostitutes or just young men eager for a thrill, we’ll never know.
Soldier Boys
Monty started taking photos of soldiers after he signed up in 1916, and in 1918, the year he was awarded the MC, he kept a diary, snippets of this are quoted in the book and show that although dealing with lice, rats, dead Bosche and horror on a daily basis, he still found time for love. It is at this time he meets Ernest (Ernie) with whom he has at least one “night of his life.”
Ralph
Quite simply, the love of Monty’s life, and to look at him, it’s not hard to understand why. Coming from a working-class background, but with the looks of an Aryan angel, photogenic and very obviously hung like a donkey, Ralph is to die for. However, when it could very easily have happened that this younger man could have been nothing more than a kept man, staying with Glover for sex and money, it didn’t happen that way. This is very clearly a love affair with a capital L, which you cannot help but see in their extensive and lavishly adoring mutual love-letters. A large portion of these were sent during the second world war, when Ralph was drafted into the RAF in 1940. Indeed, it’s hard – reading a selection of these letters which are quoted in the book – to understand how these letters got past the censor! It’s wonderful that they did though, or we would miss out on lines like this written by Ralph to Monty in November 1940:
“Do you remember the old days when we first started darling. I went back all over it again last night. What a time we had in them days and I am sorry to say I am crying I canot hold it back no more my Darling. I love you my old Darling. I do miss you ever such a lot my dear as you know my dear.”
Monty and Ralph lived together (after meeting around 1930) for fifty years. The photographs of their lives together (other than the beautiful, posed, and artistic shots of Ralph) are ordinary and heartwarming for their ordinariness. Sitting in their sitting room, pictures of their bath, Ralph making toast, having breakfast, Monty shaving. Love in every image.
When Monty died in 1983, he left everything to Ralph, but Ralph went into a decline and died four years later.
Anyone with any interest in gay history will find this a resource they can’t be without, particularly if writing of gay men from 1910 onwards, anyone with an interest in photography will find it fascinating. But really, anyone with a heart cannot be moved by this book and the social record it has saved for posterity.
January 6, 2017
Sadly now long out of print, this wonderful book documents the complex dynamics between 'toff' Monty Glover and the men he idolised, fetishised and photographed, namely masculine, well endowed working class men. One such man was Ralph Hall, a handsome, smart but uneducated working class lad that Glover would have a 50 year loving relationship with until their deaths. Their war time correspondence (they were apart for 4 years) is especially tender and heart wrenching. Their separation by class according to the outside world allowed them the freedom they wouldn't otherwise have, with Hall assuming the role of handyman, chauffeur and companion but domestically they were a loving partnership. A wonderful look at a piece of gay history.
December 8, 2022
A marvellous collection of photos. Of interest historically and more generally.
April 20, 2021
A real life Maurice (almost) Middle class man spots a handsome working class youth. They become lovers and live together as man a general servant for the rest of their lives apart from the 2nd World War. It appears that Mr Glover had various sexual encounters during this time, although nothing is mentioned about Ralph whilst he was serving abroad.
An interesting read about that era and how some homosexuals managed to live and have sexual intimacies without causing too much consternation amongst their neighbours.
I really can't decide if that situation would exist today. Certainly there isn't the same obvious delineation between working and middle class men from a visual point of view. The working classes of that era wore manual, working class clothes and were easily identifiable. Today that isn't the same...at least for me. Everyone seems to wear 'labels' real or fake. Fairly obviously speech and use of the English language would be somewhat of a giveaway today and if anyone hand wrote letters these days that would also be an indicator I think, but with texts so many people writhing such as... Wot u doin were r u
Obviously these are generalisations and there are always exceptions.
There is a mistake which I spotted. Mr Gardiner, the author states that they lived in Balsall Heath. In reality they would not have been able to live the rural tranquil life in Balsall Heath, which is an inner city area of Birmingham.
In fact it would have been Balsall Common which is close to Leamington, Warwick, Kenilworth, Solihull and Coventry. From personal experience the residents of Balsall Common would be horrified that people thought Balsall Heath and their town were the same!
Having read this, I felt that those times were far more 'beautiful' than they are today. That's most probably a rose tinted garden view, but I think I would have preferred it then than today.
Without doubt Ralph is a very handsome, well built man and it's clear why Mr Glover fell in love with him. I most certainly would.
A must read are the letters written by Ralph. I can't imagine anyone writing something like that, especially in this day and age.
An interesting read about that era and how some homosexuals managed to live and have sexual intimacies without causing too much consternation amongst their neighbours.
I really can't decide if that situation would exist today. Certainly there isn't the same obvious delineation between working and middle class men from a visual point of view. The working classes of that era wore manual, working class clothes and were easily identifiable. Today that isn't the same...at least for me. Everyone seems to wear 'labels' real or fake. Fairly obviously speech and use of the English language would be somewhat of a giveaway today and if anyone hand wrote letters these days that would also be an indicator I think, but with texts so many people writhing such as... Wot u doin were r u
Obviously these are generalisations and there are always exceptions.
There is a mistake which I spotted. Mr Gardiner, the author states that they lived in Balsall Heath. In reality they would not have been able to live the rural tranquil life in Balsall Heath, which is an inner city area of Birmingham.
In fact it would have been Balsall Common which is close to Leamington, Warwick, Kenilworth, Solihull and Coventry. From personal experience the residents of Balsall Common would be horrified that people thought Balsall Heath and their town were the same!
Having read this, I felt that those times were far more 'beautiful' than they are today. That's most probably a rose tinted garden view, but I think I would have preferred it then than today.
Without doubt Ralph is a very handsome, well built man and it's clear why Mr Glover fell in love with him. I most certainly would.
A must read are the letters written by Ralph. I can't imagine anyone writing something like that, especially in this day and age.
July 20, 2022
A remarkable glimpse into everyday early 20th century gay life, documentation of a life not particularly notable in & of itself, but which is so valuable today because it was so extensively documented—& somehow survived (everything seen here was rescued from an auction of the estate of Glover & life partner Ralph Edward Hall, "two battered cardboard boxes of dusty negative & faded letters that were by some miracle not thrown out"). Many of Glover's photographs are primarily of interest today as records of men's lives in the past, while some of the "private" images of lovers & trade remain quite sexy, but really it's the ones of Hall that are downright swoon-worthy: Hall was an exceedingly handsome young man, no doubt, but what comes across just as strongly is the adoring eye behind the camera, lovingly capturing the object of his affection.
I appreciate how Gardiner recounts not only Glover—& eventually Hall's—life story, but is careful to contextualize it within the larger scope of public British social history & "private" queer life in the pre-Stonewall era. Glover becomes something of a specific example representing what is likely many similar lives that just weren't as meticulously recorded &/or were lost to time.
A beautiful, poignant testament of "unexceptional" gay love from the past, & a collective queer treasure. It's a deep shame this is out of print & been unavailable for so long, hopefully that changes at some point.
I appreciate how Gardiner recounts not only Glover—& eventually Hall's—life story, but is careful to contextualize it within the larger scope of public British social history & "private" queer life in the pre-Stonewall era. Glover becomes something of a specific example representing what is likely many similar lives that just weren't as meticulously recorded &/or were lost to time.
A beautiful, poignant testament of "unexceptional" gay love from the past, & a collective queer treasure. It's a deep shame this is out of print & been unavailable for so long, hopefully that changes at some point.
January 18, 2023
This book is extraordinary I am so annoyed that I didn't buy a copy back in the day when anyone could. That it now sells for as much as £500 surely indicates that this book would repay publishing again. Why no one has is mystery. If you can get hold of a copy to read, even by searching it out in a specialist or university library I recommend doing so. If you see it in second hand book shop for under £100 you should probably grab it.
This is both a wonderful collection of photographs and a biography of Montague Glover, the civil servant and amateur photographer and his young working class lover Ralph and the real treat the letters Ralph sent to Montague while he was in the army and abroad during WWII, the only time in 50 years they were separated. It is a wonderful portrait of gay life in the UK between the 1920s and 70s. This small book wonderfully illustrates the theme of Graham Robb's excellent 'Strangers' which explores how varied gay life was in 19th and early 20th century London and Paris (amongst other cities) and how different and varied it was to the world immediately preceding gay liberation in the 1960s. It also shows how different the UK was to the USA was.
I can't resist commenting on the beauty of the photographs, there is only one very beautiful nude - of Ralph, but there are some incredibly sexy pictures if young men at the Serpentine bathing area. Most of them are wearing swimwear which leaves them more dressed then most young men are wearing today when they walk down the street in the summer. Yet some of them are incredibly erotic as well as beautiful.
The letters are truly extraordinary - they are clearly love letters between two men. It demonstrates that the UK army did not use soldiers letters as a way of ferreting out undeclared homosexuals in the way the US army did. They are very beautiful and very moving. It was only by chance that the author saved them from the dustmen - it is an amazing story and collection and it should be republished and made available again.
This is both a wonderful collection of photographs and a biography of Montague Glover, the civil servant and amateur photographer and his young working class lover Ralph and the real treat the letters Ralph sent to Montague while he was in the army and abroad during WWII, the only time in 50 years they were separated. It is a wonderful portrait of gay life in the UK between the 1920s and 70s. This small book wonderfully illustrates the theme of Graham Robb's excellent 'Strangers' which explores how varied gay life was in 19th and early 20th century London and Paris (amongst other cities) and how different and varied it was to the world immediately preceding gay liberation in the 1960s. It also shows how different the UK was to the USA was.
I can't resist commenting on the beauty of the photographs, there is only one very beautiful nude - of Ralph, but there are some incredibly sexy pictures if young men at the Serpentine bathing area. Most of them are wearing swimwear which leaves them more dressed then most young men are wearing today when they walk down the street in the summer. Yet some of them are incredibly erotic as well as beautiful.
The letters are truly extraordinary - they are clearly love letters between two men. It demonstrates that the UK army did not use soldiers letters as a way of ferreting out undeclared homosexuals in the way the US army did. They are very beautiful and very moving. It was only by chance that the author saved them from the dustmen - it is an amazing story and collection and it should be republished and made available again.
April 14, 2023
A beautiful collection of Glover's private homoerotic photographs.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews