Studies in a Dying Culture

In 1938, a year after his death in Spain at the age of twenty-nine, Christopher Caudwell’sStudies in a Dying Culturewas published. It consists of eight essays: on George Bernard Shaw, T.E. Lawrence, D.H. Lawrence, H.G. Wells, Sigmund Freud, and on pacifism and violence, love, and liberty. Christopher St. John Spriggwas born in Putney, England, in 1970. After working as a reporter, editor, and publisher, in 1934 he began devoting himself to freelance writing. Under his pseudonym,Christopher Caudwell, he wrote his major works,Illusion and Reality, The Crisis in Physics,andFurther Studies in Dying Culture. In December 1936, he joined the International Brigade to fight fascism in Spain. He was killed on February 12, 1937.