Along with Henry Green and Stephen Spender, Sansom served as an auxiliary fireman during the London Blitz. Soon after his experiences in the war, Sansom published the first of numerous books, a haunting, nightmarish collection of short stories that had many critics hailing the emergence of an English Kafka. The best stories in the collection deal directly with the experience of fighting fires, including “The Wall” and the book’s unforgettable title story. -The American Scholar, "Ten Neglected Classics"