Ruined City, sometimes published as Kindling, is a 1938 novel by Nevil Shute

Nevil Shute

Nevil Shute Norway was a popular British-Australian novelist and a successful aeronautical engineer. He used his full name in his engineering career, and 'Nevil Shute' as his pen name, in order to protect his engineering career from any potential negative publicity in connection with his novels.-...

.

Plot summary

The book tells the story of Henry Warren, a City of London financier and head of his firm, Warren Sons and Mortimer. Amid the Depression, Warren continues to make money through hard work floating loans and stock issues—but at a price. Although only in his early forties, he is starting to have health problems—and his wife is having an affair with another man. They separate, and divorce proceedings begin. One night, out of desperation, and telling no one, he orders his chauffeur to drive him to the North of England, as he wants to go on a hiking tour to clear his head and gain some perspective. His chauffeur sets him down many hours north of London. The chauffeur's death in a road accident while making his way back to London means that there is no one who knows where Warren is. Warren soon suffers severe intestinal pain

Peritonitis

Peritonitis is an inflammation of the peritoneum, the serous membrane that lines part of the abdominal cavity and viscera. Peritonitis may be localised or generalised, and may result from infection or from a non-infectious process.-Abdominal pain and tenderness:The main manifestations of...

 and is taken to a hospital in the fictional Northumberland

Northumberland

Northumberland is the northernmost ceremonial county and a unitary district in North East England. For Eurostat purposes Northumberland is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "Northumberland and Tyne and Wear" NUTS 2 region...

 town of Sharples. The loss of his wallet deprives Warren of any evidence of his identity, and everyone assumes he is one of the many who are on the road, unemployed because of the Depression

Great Depression in the United Kingdom

The Great Depression in the United Kingdom, also known as the Great Slump, was a period of national economic downturn in the 1930s, which had its origins in the global Great Depression...

. Once he regains consciousness, he encourages this misconception.

Sharples, once a prosperous town, is so entirely bound up with the shipyard that was its major employer that when the shipyard failed, so did the town. Unemployment is very high, and few shops remain open, the entire town living on the dole. The hospital is still open, however, and Warren is operated on successfully. While recovering he learns of the town's plight, as he starts becoming attracted to the Hospital's Almoner

Almoner

An almoner is a chaplain or church officer who originally was in charge of distributing cash to the deserving poor.Historically, almoners were Christian religious functionaries whose duty was to distribute alms to the poor. Monasteries were required to spend one tenth of their income in charity to...

, Alice MacMahon - a law graduate who never practised but who is fiercely loyal to her town. He continues the pose of being indigent, and watches as others die through listlessness and lack of strength. Eventually his convalescence is complete and he is discharged. By this time, he has managed to have money and cheque forms sent to him, and he gives a major gift to the hospital, keeping it quiet.

Warren now wants to help the town, both out of affection for Alice and out of belief that something must be done - and as head of his firm he is uniquely able to do so. He quietly buys the shipyard for a song with his own money, but knows of no legitimate way of securing that first order to start the shipyard going again. He sees no other way but to indulge in shady dealings (before this, his name was a byword for honesty).

Warren goes to the Balkan nation of Laevatia and begins bribing officials for control of the oil concession—once the concession is secured, the corporation which will result will need tankers to transport the oil. Thanks to the help of a courtesan

Courtesan

A courtesan was originally a female courtier, which means a person who attends the court of a monarch or other powerful person.In feudal society, the court was the centre of government as well as the residence of the monarch, and social and political life were often completely mixed together...

, a dishonest card dealer, and other colourful characters, he is successful. The new corporation which Warren floats on the London stock market orders the tankers from the shipyard, which Warren also floats on the stock market. To make the float a success he states in its prospectus

Prospectus (finance)

In finance, a prospectus is a document that describes a financial security for potential buyers. A prospectus commonly provides investors with material information about mutual funds, stocks, bonds and other investments, such as a description of the company's business, financial statements,...

 that the yard will make a profit, although he knows full well, and a letter he has received from the yard's manager reports, that the opposite will be true. This falsification of a prospectus was and is a serious criminal offence - as Warren well knows.

The shipyard slowly starts up again, and thus far Warren's plan works well. But when there is a revolution in Laevatia, the house of cards that Warren has built starts to collapse. Questions are asked around the Exchange, the damning letter comes to light, and Warren is arrested. The only way to keep the shipyard out of it is for Warren to take the responsibility entirely on himself. He does, and is sent to prison, where he serves two years and three months. He is completely unrepentant. Meanwhile, his love for Alice only awaits his release before they can be married. As a prisoner, without responsibility, he begins to recover his health and gain perspective on his life. As his good name in the City is ruined, and as he can never return to his former work, he thinks about what to do with the remainder of his life (what he decides is not made clear). He will still be a wealthy man, and still has energy.

Upon his release, he travels up to Sharples, telling no one of his coming. There is no resemblance between the bustling, prosperous town he now sees, and the derelict one he remembers. He walks to the shipyard, now busy with rearmament work, and sees a three foot square bronze plaque at the gate. It shows the head and shoulders of a man, in profile, and the words "HENRY WARREN/1934/HE GAVE US WORK". He is much affected. He is recognized, and the entire town, including Alice, hurries to the shipyard to greet him.http://www.allreaders.com/Topics/info_33362.asp

Quotes

"There's only one cure for starvation--work! If only we could get some work back here. That's the only thing that allows you to be human and foolish, as you've got to be."

"'I believe that that's the one thing most worth doing in this modern world," he said quietly. 'to create jobs that men can work at, and be proud of, and make money by their work. There's no dignity, no decency, or health today for men that haven't got a job. All other things depend on work today: without work men are utterly undone.'"

Footnotes

The book is, to some extent, based on Shute's own experience at Howden

Howden

Howden is a small market town and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies north of the M62, on the A614 road about north of Goole and south-west of York. William the Conqueror gave the town to the Bishops of Durham in 1080...

 in Yorkshire as Calculator of the R100

R100

HM Airship R100 was a privately designed and built rigid airship made as part of a two-ship competition to develop new techniques for a projected larger commercial airship for use on British empire routes...

project (see Shute's autobiography "Slide Rule" pg 60 2nd Pan Edition 1969) and his experience as a director of Airspeed, Ltd.http://www.nevilshute.org/Chars/HenryWarren.php.