The Citadel (Masterplots II: British and Commonwealth Fiction Series)
At a glance:
- Author: A. J. Cronin
- First Published: 1937
- Type of Work: Social criticism
- Time of Work: The first third of the twentieth century
- Setting: Two small industrial towns in Wales, Blaenelly and Aberalaw; London; and Stanborough in southwestern England
- Principal Characters: Andrew Manson, Christine Manson, Dr. Edward Page, Mrs. Page, Dr. Philip Denny, Dr. Freddy Hampron
- Genres: Long fiction, Social realism
- Subjects: Social action, Doctors, 1910’s, 1920’s, 1930’s, England or English people, Truth, London, Ethics, Medicine, Corruption, Idealism, Work or workers, Diseases, Materialism, Honor, Lungs, Wales or Welsh people
- Locales: London, England, Wales
The Novel
A. J. Cronin, a physician as well as a writer, himself lived much of the life he attributes to his protagonist, Andrew Manson, in The Citadel. Therefore, he knows whereof he speaks. The novel begins by recounting the life of a medical doctor newly graduated from the not-quite-fashionable University of Dundee, as he commences his first full-fledged medical assignment, to maintain the established practice of Dr. Edward Page, an elderly physician in the industrial town of Blaenelly in Wales’s coal-mining region.
In Blaenelly, Manson meets Christine, a...
[The entire page is 2181 words long]

