 In the First World War he reached the rank of Major, before retiring in 1919 to devote himself to his writing.His first novel, "Sweet Pepper" (1923) – a romance novel set in the former Austro-Hungarian Empire in the aftermath of the First World War – was a bestseller and was followed a year later by the popular and influential short story collection, "Defeat" (1923).Thereafter Moss published roughly a book a year until the outbreak of the Second World War, his œuvre comprising novels, short story collections, verse, children's stories and works of non-fiction on European politics and military matters.