["The Tontine"] is not nearly so grim … as its title would suggest. In fact, the great Waterloo Tontine that was hatched by an unsavory criminal boss hard on the heels of Wellington's historic victory provides only the mere framework for this sprawling Dickensian romance. The meat that plumps out its two large volumes is a very palatable, lively picture of England during the industrial revolution….

Mr. Costain is a good story teller. His action moves, however heavily loaded with detail. His characters are "characters," not unlike those of Dickens or, perhaps, Damon Runyon. His plot traces the lives of four generations of the above-mentioned families in alternating episodes (sometimes involving one family, sometimes all three) that raise almost more suspense in transit than at the final climax when the results of the tontine once more take the center of the stage.

And Mr. Costain knows his period setting...