The Keys of the Kingdom

Immensely successful * The Spectator *
A.J. Cronin was perhaps the most successful novelist of the 1930s … probably as significant a figure as J.B. Priestley * The English Historical Review *
One of the most popular authors in the English speaking world * New York Times *

A. J. Cronin was born in Cardross, Scotland, in 1896 and studied at the University of Glasgow. In 1916 he served as a surgeon sub-lieutenant in the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve. After the war, he completed his medical studies and practiced in South Wales. He was later appointed to the Ministry of Mines, where he studied the medical problems of the mining industry. He then moved to London and established a successful practice in the West End.

In 1931, Cronin published his first novel, Hatter’s Castle, which received critical acclaim and was compared to the works of Dickens, Hardy, and Balzac. Six years later, he published The Citadel, a novel that highlighted the shortcomings in medical practice and contributed to the establishment of the National Health Service (NHS).

Cronin died in 1931.

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