It must be about 35 years since I borrowed this from the library and read it at one sitting! Since then I've often returned to it and always with much pleasure. The David-and-Goliath story, set in a Northumbrian newspaper office, holds the interest from first page to last. When it came out, critical opinion was rather divided as to how authentic it was but for me it has the ring of truth. Perhaps the characterisations are a bit black and white and the conclusion isn't absolutely convincing but most readers will be too lost in the skill of the storytelling to be troubled by this.