After his military service Priestley received a university education at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, where he was among the first cohort of students to study the newly founded English Tripos; transferring to History for Part II, he was awarded an upper-second class degree in 1921."University Intelligence", The Times, 14 June 1920, p. 9."Cambridge Tripos Lists", The Times, 20 June 1921, p. 14. By the age of 30 he had established a reputation as an essayist and critic. His novel Benighted (1927) was adapted into the James Whale film The Old Dark House (1932); the novel was published under the film's name in the United States.
After his military service Priestley received a university education at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, where he was among the first cohort of students to study the newly founded English Tripos; transferring to History for Part II, he was awarded an upper-second class degree in 1921."University Intelligence" The Times, 14 June 1920, p. 9.",Cambridge Tripos Lists", The Times, 20 June 1921, p. 14. By the age of 30 he had established a reputation as an essayist and critic. His novel Benighted (1927) was adapted into the James Whale film The Old Dark House (1932); the novel was published under the film's name in the United States.