in 1931 the constantines settled in a fairly prosperous, middle-class area of nelson, where they were to live until 1949. during 1932, they took c. l. r. james—who knew constantine through having played cricket against him in trinidad—as a lodger; james had come to london but had run out of money. james was at the forefront of a growing west indian nationalist movement, though constantine had until then consciously avoided politics. through james' influence, constantine realised that his position gave him opportunities to further the cause of racial equality and trinidadian independence. he joined the league of coloured peoples, an organisation aiming to achieve racial equality for black people in britain. he helped james to get a job with the "manchester guardian", and in return, james helped constantine to write his first book, "cricket and i", which was published in 1933. later commentators have identified constantine's book as an important step in west indian nationalism, and an encouragement to future authors. at that time, james wrote, few active cricketers wrote books and "no one in the west indies that i knew, cricketer or not, was writing books at all; certainly none was being printed abroad." constantine and james drifted apart once the latter returned to london; they remained in contact but did not always agree politically or morally. mason believes, however that without constantine's assistance james may not have later established himself as a celebrated political writer.