Christopher St. John Sprigg

20 O–13 F

Until recently Christopher St John Sprigg was largely remembered for his Marxist writing and poetry, all of which was published posthumously under the name **Christopher Caudwell**. The reprinting of *Death of an Airman* by the British Library in 2015 has helped revive interest in his fiction. Christopher St John Sprigg (1907 - 1937) was born in London to a literate family of writers, journalists and editors. The youngest of three children, Sprigg attended Catholic boarding school for ten years, until a downturn in family finances prompted a departure from schooling at age 15. He immediately became a trainee reporter at the *Yorkshire Observer* where his father was then literary editor, and father and son lodged together in a boarding house in Bradford. In 1925 Sprigg joined his older brother Theo as the editing team of *Airways* magazine. During this time Sprigg also produced technical books and air adventures stores for *Popular Flying* magazine. He had a fondness for noms-de-plumes, writing adventure stores under the names ‘Arthur Cave’ and ‘Icarus’, using ‘St John Lewis’ for articles in *Airways*, and ‘Christopher Beaumont’ for his book reviews. Over a three year period, Sprigg wrote several detective stores stories, including *Fatality in Fleet Street*, *The Perfect Alibi*, <a href=https://openlibrary.org/works/OL22661796W/>*Death of an Airman*</a>, and *Death of a Queen*. In 1935, he joined the Communist party and focused on Marxist writings. When the Spanish Civil War

11 books in the database