If one were to build the archetype of a reactionary, it would probably look a lot like Montague “Monty” Rhodes James. Born in the village of Goodnestone, Kent, James grew up in an environment surrounded by history and legend. His father, the Reverend Herbert James, was an Anglican curate and the rector of Livermere, Suffolk. As he grew older, Monty developed an interest in the medieval world—its cathedrals, manuscripts, and, most importantly, its ghosts.

For the majority of his working life, James was a scholar specializing in apocryphal writings from the middle ages. This specialty earned him positions including director of Cambridge’s Fitzwilliam Museum (1893-1908), Provost of King’s College (1905-1918), Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge University (1913-1915), and Provost of Eton, a position he held until his death in 1936. A sturdy Anglican with a highly credentialed name, the real M.R. James seems as much a character taken from a Little England novel or an Agatha Christie mystery as a real man.