A determined attempt to uncover what its subject made a determined attempt to conceal. Ernest Bramah amused and continues to amuse the many and devoted readers of his mock-Chinese stories of Kai Lung without ever having been to China. He invented the first blind detective in fiction, Max Carrados, and made a more successful living out of literary work than from farming. Unlike authors who were his contemporaries, for example "Sapper" and Edgar Wallace, he avoided personal disclosures while promoting his books and stories successfully.
Mr Wilson's book, while not revealing everything about the life of this reticent author, is the result of long and not always successful searches for the remaining evidence. It is well produced, but marred by a few typographic errors. ( )