A.J. Cronin

Archibald Joseph Cronin was a Scottish physician and novelist. His best-known novel, The Citadel (1937), tells of a Scottish doctor in a Welsh mining village, who quickly moves up the career ladder in London. Cronin had observed the venues as a medical inspector of mines and later as a doctor in Harley Street. The book promoted still controversial ideas about medical ethics and helped to inspire the National Health Service. Another popular mining novel of Cronin's, set in the North East of England, is The Stars Look Down. Both have been adapted as films, as have Hatter's Castle, The Keys of the Kingdom and The Green Years. Cronin's novel Country Doctor was adapted as a long-running BBC radio and TV series Dr. Finlay's Casebook, revived many years later.