Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, known to cinephiles as The Archers, wrote/produced/directed A Matter of Life and Death in 1946. The film (released in the United States under the title Stairway to Heaven) tells the story of a WWII R.A.F. pilot who eludes death and then must stand trial before a heavenly tribunal for the right to live.

In 1946 a private publication of a novelization of the film's story was given to the cast and crew.

Read the Novel