Russell Ash

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Russell Ash (born 18 June 1946) is the British author of the Top 10 of Everything series of books, as well as Great Wonders of the World, Incredible Comparisons and many other reference, art and humour titles.

1 Biography
2 Work
3 Bibliography
4 Personal life
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] Biography

Russell Ash was born in Surrey, a descendant of a family of craftsmen – goldsmiths and silversmiths in 18th century London that included Claudius Ash (1792–1854), one of the pioneering inventors of false teeth. His father worked as a bookbinder for the British Museum Library and also served in the RAF in World War II.

The family moved to Bedford where he attended primary school and Bedford Modern School. He studied anthropology and geography at St Cuthbert’s, Durham University, and began a publishing career in 1967. He worked as a picture researcher for Man, Myth and Magic and a researcher/writer for Reader’s Digest Books and Newsweek Books on their Wonders of Man series.

In 1973, with his friend Ian Grant, Russell Ash established the publishing company Ash & Grant, that ran for five years. He was also a director of Weidenfeld & Nicolson in 1980–83, where he worked with authors including comedian Barry Humphries (aka Dame Edna Everage), and Pavilion Books in 1984–88, where he published works by satirist John Wells, Hockney Posters and numerous other illustrated books.

However, his principal occupation has been that of freelance author, having written or contributed to over a hundred non-fiction books.

[edit] Work

Russell Ash has written for both adults and children on a diverse range of subjects, including reference, art, history, biography and humour. Top 10 of Everything, probably his best-known work, has been published annually since 1989 and was the basis of a children’s TV series broadcast on ITV in 1998–2001. Related books – The Top 10 of Sport, The Top 10 of Music, The Top 10 of Film and others – have been issued at intervals. Formerly published by Dorling Kindersley, Top 10 of Everything has been published by Hamlyn since 2006 and also appears in a number of translations.

The art books Russell Ash wrote during the 1990s include titles on the Pre-Raphaelites, the Impressionists and their contemporaries: Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, James Tissot, Sir Edward Burne-Jones, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Lord Leighton and Sir John Everett Millais.

He compiled a range of illustrated information books for children, including Incredible Comparisons (1996), The World in One Day (1997), The Factastic Book of 1001 Lists (1998), Factastic Millennium Facts (1999) and Great Wonders of the World (2000), all of which were published by Dorling Kindersley and internationally in numerous editions.

He is the co-author (with Brian Lake) of Fish Who Answer the Telephone and Other Bizarre Books (John Murray, UK, 2006; published in the USA by Harper Perennial as Bizarre Books, 2007). Among his other recent publications are Whitaker’s World of Facts (A&C Black, UK, 2007; published in North America by Firefly as Firefly’s World of Facts, 2007) and Potty, Fartwell & Knob: Extraordinary but True Names of British People (Headline, UK, 2007).

On 7 April 2008, he took part in BBC2’s University Challenge: The Professionals, in the team representing the Society of Authors, which also comprised Antony Beevor (captain), Katie Fforde and Anna Claybourne.

[edit] Bibliography

[edit] Art

Alma-Tadema (1973) ISBN 978-0852632376
Alma-Tadema (catalogue of the Funt Collection) (1973)
Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema (1989) ISBN 978-1851454228
Sir Edward Burne-Jones (1993) ISBN 978-1857930177
The Impressionists and their Art (1980) ISBN 978-0856132926
The Impressionists’ River (1992) ISBN 978-1851455126
Impressionists’ Seasons (1995) ISBN 978-1857936285
Lord Leighton (1995) ISBN 978-1857937329
Sir John Everett Millais (1996) ISBN 978-1857937923
Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1995) ISBN 978-1857934120
Selections from the Reader’s Digest Collection (1986)
James Tissot (1992) ISBN 978-1851457410
Toulouse-Lautrec: The Complete Posters (1991) ISBN 978-1851455171
Van Gogh’s Provence (1992) ISBN 978-1851455072
Victorian Masters and their Art (1999) ISBN 978-1862053045
Victorian Studio Photographs (with Bevis Hillier et al) (1975) ISBN 978-0904069037

[edit] Biography and history

Britain’s Buried Treasures (1972) ISBN 978-0903356176
Comets (with Ian Grant) (1973) ISBN 978-0904069006
Dear Cats: The Post Office Letters (1986) ISBN 978-1851450855
Great Wonders of the World (2000) ISBN 978-0751328868
Highwaymen (1970) ISBN 978-0852631010
Highwaymen (revised edition) (1994) ISBN 978-0747802600
Wrecks & Sunken Treasure (1972) ISBN 978-0903356046
The Wright Brothers (1974) ISBN 978-0853403425

[edit] Humour

Bizarre Books (with Brian Lake) (1985) ISBN 978-0333383124
Bizarre Books (with Brian Lake; new edition) (1998) ISBN 978-1862051027
The Cynic’s Dictionary (1984) ISBN 978-0552990523
Dead Funny (with Ian Grant) (1974) ISBN 978-0904069020
Fish Who Answer the Telephone and other Bizarre Books (with Brian Lake) (2006) ISBN 978-0719560187
Henry & Caroline At Home (with Joanna Isles) (1990) ISBN 978-1851453580
Howlers (1985) ISBN 978-0906710739
I’ll Drink to That (1987) ISBN 978-0552133180
Last Laughs (with Ian Grant) (1984) ISBN 978-0048271235
The Official British Yuppie Handbook (1984) ISBN 978-0906710562
Potty, Fartwell & Knob (2007) ISBN 978-0755316540
Private Parts (1987) ISBN 978-0552133173
Tall Stories (1994) ISBN 978-1854103352
They Didn’t Really Mean It (1987) ISBN 978-0552133197
The Uncensored Boy’s Own (1990) ISBN 978-0356195087
The Uncensored Guide to the Movies (1991) ISBN 978-0356203065

[edit] Literature and language

Alice’s Adventures Under Ground (Lewis Carroll; introduction) (1985) ISBN 978-0907516941
A Dictionary of RAF Slang (Eric Partridge; introduction) (1990) ISBN 978-1851455263
Edward Lear’s Book of Nonsense (introduction) (1980) ISBN 978-0460044998
Larkrise to Candleford Diary (1989)
The Life and Times of Paddington Bear (with Michael Bond) (1988) ISBN 978-1851452866
The Vampyre: A Tale by John William Polidori (introduction) (1974) ISBN 978-0852632444

[edit] Reference and trivia

Crucial Top 10 (1997) ISBN 978-1862082144
The Daily Trivia Diary ’87 (1986)
Factastic Book of 1001 Lists (1998) ISBN 978-0751357998
Factastic Book of Comparisons (1999) ISBN 978-0751362084
Factastic Millennium Facts (1999) ISBN 978-0751356632
Fact or Fiction? (1973) ISBN 978-0276000430
The Frog Book (1986) ISBN 978-0356123059
Incredible Comparisons (1996) ISBN 978-0751354218
The Londoner’s Almanac (1985) ISBN 978-0712609289
The Pig Book (1985) ISBN 978-0852234174
Talking about the Family (1973) ISBN 978-0853402664
Talking about Race (1974) ISBN 978-0853403562
Top 10 of Everything (annual; 1989–2007) ISBN 978-0600615385 (latest edition)
The Top 10 of Film (2003) ISBN 978-1405300506
The Top 10 of Music (with Luke Crampton and Barry Lazell) (1993) ISBN 978-0747207986
The Top 10 of Sport (with Ian Morrison) (1992) ISBN 978-0747207146
The Top 10 of Sport (with Ian Morrison; new edition) (2002) ISBN 978-0751346428
Top 10 Quiz Book (1996) ISBN 978-0751354430
Whitaker’s World of Facts (annual; 2005–07) ISBN 978-0713685565 (latest edition)
The World in One Day (1997) ISBN 978-0751356182

[edit] Personal life

He is married to Caroline Ash, formerly the director of the Rockinghorse Appeal, a children’s medical charity, and has a daughter and two sons. He has lived in Lewes, East Sussex, since 1991.

[edit] See also

List of non-fiction writers

[edit] External links

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