Archibald Joseph Cronin, born in 1896, was a novelist, dramatist and writer of non-fiction who was one of the most renowned storytellers of the twentieth century. His best-known works are The Stars Look Down, The Citadel, The Keys of the Kingdom and The Green Years, all of which were adapted to film. He served as a Royal Navy surgeon during the First World War before graduating from medical school. During an enforced holiday from his medical practice due to ill health he composed his first novel, Hatter's Castle, with which he enjoyed immense success and which launched his career as a prolific author; he never returned to practicing medicine. He died on 6 January 1981 (aged 84) in Montreux, Switzerland.
