Ernest Bramah Ernest BramahErnest Bramah (20 March 1868 – 27 June 1942), the pseudonym of Ernest Brammah Smith, was an English author. Along with numerous short stories and features, he also wrote 21 novels. His comedic writings were frequently compared to those of Jerome K. Jrome and W. W. Jacobs, while his detective tales, politico-science fiction, and supernatural tales were placed alongside those of Conan Doyle, H. G. Wells, and Algernon Blackwood. George Orwell admitted that What Might Have Been by Bramah had an impact on his novel Nineteen Eighty-Four. Kai Lung and Max Carrados were created by Bramah. Bramah's conception of the traveling storyteller Kai Lung was a commercial and critical success. He initially appears in Grant Richards' 1900 publication of The Wallet of Kai Lung, which was rejected by eight other publishers. One hundred years later, it was still in print. The Kai Lung Tales are lighthearted Chinese folktales that frequently feature fantastical elements like dragons and gods. A political science fiction author is Bramah. The anti-socialist dystopia What Might Have Been, first published in 1907 and reissued as The Secret of the League in 1909, reflects Bramah's conservative political views. It served as a source for George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four. Read More Read Less