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The Citadel is a novel by A. J. Cronin (1896-1981), first published in 1937, which was groundbreaking with its treatment of the contentious theme of medical ethics. It is credited with laying the foundation in Great Britain for the introduction of the National Health System (NHS) a decade later. In the U.S. it won the National Book Award for 1937 novels, voted by members of the American Bookseller... More

The Citadel is a novel by A. J. Cronin (1896-1981), first published in 1937, which was groundbreaking with its treatment of the contentious theme of medical ethics. It is credited with laying the foundation in Great Britain for the introduction of the National Health System (NHS) a decade later. In the U.S. it won the National Book Award for 1937 novels, voted by members of the American Booksellers Association. For this, his fifth book, Dr. Cronin drew on his experiences practising medicine in the coal mining communities of the South Wales Valleys -as he had for The Stars Look Down two years earlier. Specifically, he had researched and reported on the correlation between coal dust inhalation and lung disease in the town of Tredegar. He had also worked as a doctor for the Tredegar Medical Aid Society at the Cottage Hospital, which served as the model for the National Health Service. Cronin once stated in an interview, "I have written in The Citadel all I feel about the medical profession, its injustices, its hide-bound unscientific stubbornness, its humbug ... The horrors and inequities detailed in the story I have personally witnessed. This is not an attack against individuals, but against a system." "Cronin's distinguished achievement. . . . No one could have written as fine, honest, and moving a study of a young doctor as "The Citadel" without possessing great literary taste and skill".--"The Atlantic Monthly". A. J. Cronin was born in Scotland in 1896. In 1914 he entered the Faculty of Medicine at Glasgow University, but his studies were interrupted by war service as a surgeon sub-lieutenant in the Navy. He graduated in 1919, and was later appointed Medical Inspector of Mines. He practised medicine in London until ill-health made him return to literature, and he wrote many hugely successful novels, including the famous Dr Finlay series. This book is a simplified version for younger readers.

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