Author: Henry James O. Brien Bedford-Jones

Henry James O”Brien Bedford-Jones (1887–1949), often hailed as the “King of the Pulps”, was a prolific Canadian-born author who spent much of his career in the United States. He wrote under several different pseudonyms and covered a range of genres from historical fiction to science fiction, but is most renowned for his adventure and detective stories. His literary career spanned several decades during which he penned over twenty novels and more than a hundred short stories, cultivating a reputation for fast-paced narratives often imbued with a notable historical accuracy and color. One of his notable works, “The Cross and the Hammer”, embodies the flair for combining historical settings with adventurous plots that Bedford-Jones is celebrated for. His work is characterized by richly detailed backdrops and has often been praised for its engaging readability. A prolific writer, Bedford-Jones” contributions to magazines and pulp fiction publications were vast, rendering him a significant figure in early 20th-century American popular literature. Despite a substantial output, the scholarly attention to his work remains limited, with contemporary readers more likely to encounter his work in the context of pulp fiction reprints and anthologies.