Monty Soutar has been a teacher, a soldier, a historian, and he has worked for government, museums and iwi rūnanga. He has a research background that spans almost forty years, in which time he has had access to closely guarded tribal and family manuscripts. In 2015 he was awarded the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to Māori and historical research. He continues to serve on the Waitangi Tribunal. 

Dr Soutar is the author of Whītiki Whiti Whiti E! Māori in the First World War and Ngā Tama Toa: The Price of Citizenship: C Company 28 (Māori Battalion 1939–1945). Whītiki is a major publication about Maori participation in the First World War and the award-winning Nga Tama Toa focussed on Maori participation in the Second World War.  

In 2021 he was awarded the Creative New Zealand Michael King Writer’s Fellowship to write the Kāwai series.