A.J. Cronin, author of some of the best-loved novels of the mid-twentieth century and the creator of Dr Finlay, has been unjustly overlooked by literary biographers. In this, the first full-length life of this eminent but often neglected writer, Alan Davies recounts the story of Cronins Scottish childhood as the son of a Protestant mother and Catholic father, his subsequent medical career, and ultimately his rise to literary prominence, emphasizing throughout the importance of holding at arms length many of the apocryphal tales that have accumulated around the memory of the author of Hatters Castle, The Citadel and The Stars Look Down, many of which are based on mistaken autobiographical readings of Cronins fiction itself. Incorporating an account of Cronins tempestuous relationship with his publisher, Victor Gollancz, and some startling revelations about the authors marriage, Daviess timely and moving book paints a clearer portrait of both Cronin the writer and Cronin the man than the world has hitherto seen.