I enjoyed the articles about the distinguished author AJ Cronin in the September issue.1–2 However, in these days of concerns about how we treat whistle-blowers, an important and telling piece of information was omitted by both authors.
By writing about the ‘humbug’ of private medicine in the 1930s, Dr Cronin became persona non grata to a significant swathe of the medical establishment. When he died in 1981, 44 years after the publication of The Citadel, his obituary in the Lancet consisted of one line.
REFERENCES
- 1.Jones R. AJ Cronin: novelist, GP, and visionary. Br J Gen Pract. 2015 doi: 10.3399/bjgp15X686629. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 2.Watt G. BJGP Library: The Citadel. Br J Gen Pract. 2015 doi: 10.3399/bjgp15X686641. [DOI] [Google Scholar]