Eric Frank Russell is my favorite of the "old school" science fiction writers, so I was pleased to discover this thorough and compelling biography about his life and work. It corrects some inaccuracies that have circulated about his life in other sources, and introduced me to more of his work that I wasn't yet familiar with. I will note that the book does start out with a very detailed family tree/genealogy of the Russell family, going back a few generations. Being a history buff myself, I enjoyed this, but it might be more than some readers would want to work through before getting to the parts about EFR himself. ( )

The tedious parts indicate that the author has done a very thorough job of digging up details, though there are glimpses of Russell's personality hinting that at least some research may have been left out. But then we probably learn a lot more than EFR would have wanted us to anyway.

Information on various of Russell's ancestors and relatives give the impression that some of their lives may have been more noteworthy than his own. Barring his writing that is. Even my own father's war record may have been more interesting than EFR's. Ingham does a good job of scuppering claims that Russell may have worked on "dirty tricks" during the war.

I think collectors of EFR's books will find this a valuable resource.

We finally learn why none of Russell's works have ever appeared on the big, or TV, screen, though I remain curious why nothing has happened after his death. And surely the two remaining members of [...] have accumulated enough money to be able to do something with Wasp? ( )