Christopher Caudwell was the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

of Christopher St John Sprigg (20 October 1907 – 13 February 1937), a British Marxist writer, literary critic, intellectual and activist.

Life

He was born into a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

family in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. He was educated at the

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

Ealing Priory School, but left school at the age of 15 and worked first as a cub reporter at the ''Yorkshire Observer'', where his father was literary editor, and then as editor of ''British Malaya''. Two years later his founded an aeronautical publishing company with his brother. He also published on automobiles and he designed a infinitely variable gear. He continued scientific studies and published ''The Crisis of Physics'' in 1936. According to Marxist historian Helena Sheehan, Caudwell became interested in Marxism in 1934 and began to study it with "extraordinary intensity". In the summer of 1935, he wrote his first Marxist book entitled ''Illusions and Reality: A Study of the Sources of Poetry'' which was published by Macmillan. Following the completion of his book he joined the Communist Party of Great Britain.

Death and legacy

According to the socialist magazine '' Monthly Review'', on 12 February 1937 Caudwell "was killed by fascists in the valley of

Jarama Jarama () is a river in central Spain. It flows north to south, and passes east of Madrid where the El Atazar Dam is built on a tributary, the Lozoya River. It flows into the river Tagus in Aranjuez. The Manzanares is a tributary of the Jaram ...

during the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, link ...

. He died at a machine gun post, guarding the retreat of his comrades in the British Battalion of the

International Brigade The International Brigades ( es, Brigadas Internacionales) were military units set up by the Communist International to assist the Popular Front government of the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War. The organization existe ...

." Marxist historian E. P. Thompson writes of Caudwell: "It is not difficult to see Caudwell as a phenomenon – as an extraordinary shooting-star crossing England’s empirical night – as a premonitory sign of a more sophisticated Marxism whose true annunciation was delayed until the Sixties", while Marxist academic

John Bellamy Foster John Bellamy Foster (born August 15, 1953) is an American professor of sociology at the University of Oregon and editor of the '' Monthly Review''. He writes about political economy of capitalism and economic crisis, ecology and ecological crisis ...

similarly credited him with "breathtaking intellectual achievements in a brief period of time". In his 1942 introduction to ''The Fury of the Living'', a collection of poems by John Singer,

Hugh MacDiarmid Christopher Murray Grieve (11 August 1892 – 9 September 1978), best known by his pen name Hugh MacDiarmid (), was a Scottish poet, journalist, essayist and political figure. He is considered one of the principal forces behind the Scottish Rena ...

calls Caudwell (along with John Cornford, another young writer killed fighting in Spain), one of the 'few inspiring exceptions' from the 'leftist poets of the comfortable classes'.MacDiarmid, H. (1970). Selected Essays of Hugh MacDiarmid, ed. Duncan Glen, Cape, 1969, p.90

Works

Criticism

* '' Illusion and Reality: A Study of the Sources of Poetry'' (1937) * '' Studies in a Dying Culture'' (1938) * '' The Crisis in Physics'' (1939) * '' Further Studies in a Dying Culture'' (1949) * '' Romance and Realism: A Study in English Bourgeois Literature'' (1970) * '' Scenes and Actions'' (1986)

Poetry

* Title Unknown, The Dial, date unknown. St John Sprigg's first poem *''

Poems Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings in ...

'' (1939) * '' Collected Poems'' (1986)

Short stories

*'' Scenes and Actions'' (1986) *'' Death at 8:30''

Uncollected short stories

*’'The Case of the Jesting Miser'’ (Unpublished) *’'The Case of the Misjudged Husband'’

Novels

* ''The Kingdom of Heaven'' (1929) * ''Crime in Kensington/Pass the Body'' (1933) *'' Fatality in Fleet Street'' (1933) * ''The Perfect Alibi'' (1934) * ''Death of an Airman'' (1934) * ''The Corpse with the Sunburnt Face'' (1935) * ''Death of a Queen'' (1935) * ''This My Hand'' (1936) * ''The Six Queer Things'' (1937)

Other

*'' The Airship: Its Design, History, Operation and Future'' (1931) *''

British Airways British Airways (BA) is the flag carrier airline of the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in London, England, near its main hub at Heathrow Airport. The airline is the second largest UK-based carrier, based on fleet size and passengers ...

'' (1934)

References

External links

* *
Christopher Caudwell Archive
at th
Marxists Internet Archive
' *
The Concept of Freedom
', collection of thirteen essays by Caudwell from three of his books. *

' by Helena Sheehan: an extract from ''Marxism and the Philosophy of Science: A Critical History'' (Humanities Press: 1985, 1993). *
A British Hero - Christopher St.John Sprigg aka Christopher Caudwell
' by Dr. James Whetter (Lyfrow Trelyspen: 2011). {{DEFAULTSORT:Caudwell, Christopher 1907 births 1937 deaths 20th-century English poets 20th-century male writers British Marxists British people of the Spanish Civil War Communist Party of Great Britain members British Communist poets British Communist writers English anti-fascists English literary critics Former Roman Catholics International Brigades personnel British Marxist journalists Military personnel killed in the Spanish Civil War People educated at St Benedict's School, Ealing People from Putney