Of the several Canadian-born authors who wrote science fiction for the American pulp magazines during the early years of the 1920s and 1930s, Laurence Manning was the most significant both for his mastery of fictional techniques and for his anticipation of later modes of thought.

Lawrence Edward Manning, who wrote as Laurence Manning, was born in St. John, New Brunswick, in 1899. After attending local schools, he matriculated at the University of King's College School of Law--then in Windsor, Nova Scotia--where he received a bachelor's degree in civil law in 1919. Manning is said to have served in the Royal Canadian Air Force as a second lieutenant during the latter part of World War I, although judging from his college attendance during that period, Manning probably did not see active service. After a brief period of work on a Halifax newspaper, in 1920 Manning came to the United States, where he...