The lost classic 'Angry Young Man' novel. A clash of two temperaments. An artist and an industrialist grow up in the same smoky town and attend the same local school. In adult life each drives fiercely towards success in his own sphere, as much with an eye to outdoing the other as for any other reason. The struggle is watched through the tolerant eye of a non-competitive friend - until that eye becomes markedly less tolerant, the sub-plot becomes the main plot, and surprises pile up.