Source; The Encyclopaedia of Marxism

Christopher St John Sprigg was the real name of the writer 'Christopher Caudwell' (1907-37), who wrote detective novels under his own name. He was born into a Catholic London family, and started working as a journalist at the age of fifteen. He was soon to become editor of British Malaya. Later on he started running an aeronautics publishing company together with his brother. In addition he wrote poetry, plays, short stories, detective novels, aeronautics textbooks and ghost stories. Also at the same time he read voluminously in philosophy, sociology, history, politics, linguistics, mathematics, economics, physics, biology, neurology, literature, literary criticism and so on.

In 1934, he developed a special interest in Marxism, and in the summer of 1935 he wrote Illusion and Reality, a Marxist critique of poetry. After finishing the book he joined the Communist Party, and soon became a dedicated grassroots activist, still continuing his writing, even though none of his works were printed during his lifetime.

In December 1936, he left for Spain to join the International Brigade in the anti-fascist struggle against Franco. He soon became a machinegun instructor and editor of the Battalion Wall newspaper. Christopher Caudwell was killed by the fascists in the valley of Jarama February 12th 1937, during his first day of battle. He was last seen firing a machinegun, covering the retreat of his section from a hill about to be taken by the Moors.

His series character was Charles Venables.

Bibliography

Crime in Kensington (1933) aka Pass the Body

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)

The Six Queer Things (1937)