After an education in France, London, and Geneva, Angell spent several years (1890–98) in the United States, working as a cowboy, a prospector, and finally a journalist for the St. Louis Globe-Democrat and San Francisco Chronicle. Upon his return to Europe, other editorial posts followed, notably editorship of Galignani's Messenger (1899–1903) and Foreign Affairs (1928–31).

Angell's most famous work, The Great Illusion (1910), translated into more than a score of languages, tried to establish the fallacy of the idea that conquest and war brought a nation great economic advantage and ensured its living space and access to markets, trade, and raw materials. The Great Illusion, 1933 (1933) explored the economic developments and ideas of the 23 years since publication of the first edition. Angell's literary output was great, producing sometimes more than one book a year. He also invented the Money Game, a series of card games using paper money to teach the fundamentals of currency and credit.