Miller's prose was bombastic and martial because he saw himself as a man battling against the odds. Having fashioned himself thus, everything he (or his pen) touched turned on him, as though he were in combat. To put it another way, Miller created for himself a world constituted metaphorically as a battleground. The image of himself as struggling on this battleground became how he percieved and experienced reality. Once established, the concept of world-as-contest acquired pre-emptive power. Miller conceived of his writing as ammunition, servicing arguments that were either to be won and defended or attacked and demolished. The grip of this notion was such that, soon enough, any writing or argument not presented in combat dress was not seen by him as worthy - nor, indeed, as writing or argument at all.

Michael Shortland (about Hugh Miller)