H. M. Green was born in Sydney and attended All Saints College, Bathurst, with distinction. After taking degrees in arts and law from the University of Sydney (where he edited in 1905 the Sydney University magazine Hermes ), he travelled in Europe in 1907 and 1908. After returning to Sydney, he was admitted to the bar, but never practised. In 1909 he began work with the Sydney Morning Herald, then worked for the Daily Telegraph between 1910-1920, eventually writing leading articles and book reviews. During this time, he also wrote fiction, articles and literary criticism for a number of other periodicals, including the Bulletin and Lone Hand.
In 1921 he was appointed librarian at the University of Sydney. He remained in this position for the next twenty-five years, significantly expanding the amount of Australian content. Green also wrote and widely lectured on Australian literature. In 1933, he applied for the chair of English literature at the university, but was unsuccessful. Despite this disappointment, he continued to write prolifically, publishing many book-length studies of British and Australian writers. From 1939 to 1951 he contributed an annual survey of Australian literature to Southerly and for many years was a familiar voice on ABC radio.
In 1946 Green retired and set about completing the history of Australian literature for which he is best known. By 1954, with the help of his second wife, Dorothy Green q.v., the manuscript covered the years to 1950, but delays enabled him to include a brief description of the following ten years. The two-volume A History of Australian Literature Pure and Applied was published in 1961. Despite several new histories since then, it remains a formidable contribution to the study of Australian literature.
Other works by Green include The Story of Printing (1929) and The Howes and Their Press (with J. A. Ferguson and Mrs A. G. Foster) (Syd, 1936). He also wrote a novel, 'Aluminium God', but it was not published.
H. M. Green died in 1962. His widow, Dorothy Green, continued her career as a lecturer and revised his famous history in 1985.
