3.5 It's an efficient and fun 1930s romp, with all the encumbrances of the style of the period (yes, there really are characters called Lady Crumbles and Lady Laura Vanguard). These, coupled with a relative absence of any social observation, are perhaps surprising from a man who was on the point of adopting Marxism so comprehensively. Beyond being a reasonably adept writer, it might be easier to see Sprigg and Christopher Caudwell as basically different people.