In the novel by the famous English writer Archibald Joseph Cronin (1896–1981), the social contradictions of bourgeois society are highlighted. At the center is the remarkable image of David Fenwick, a people’s hero with an integral nature, attractive for the richness of his spirit. In the 1920s, the situation in the coal industry attracted attention from all of English society. There was not a major social conflict in which miners were not involved. In 1926, the entire working class of England supported the demands of the miners—this became the first nationwide general strike in the history of the country. "Stars Look Down" (1935) is, above all, a book about the major social problems of the era—about those who succumbed to temptations and those who stood firm against them. In 1940, this novel was adapted for film. And in 2000, a feature film titled "Billy Elliot" was made based on it.