Purple streak, the

In this latest volume in Mr. Croft-Cooke's autobiographical series, he writes about the uneasy world of the 1930 and of Spain before the Civil War.On a personal level, he tells about his new venture into the second-hand book trade, when through patience and determination he managed to survive brilliantly where it would have been so easy to have failed.As a creative writer he battled through more ups and downs than would seem possible, yet always emerged triumphant, if scarred, determined to live by the profession he had chosen, no matter what the difficulties.Remembering, he writes now with charm and humour of the period and the people he knew, and he has recaptured vividly the world that surrounded a young professional writer struggling to keep his head above water.