born in Toronto of Ukrainian parents, Shulman trained as a lawyer and practised between 1937 amd 1940. He signed up for the Canadian army and was posted to London in 1943. He became a major and after VE day interrogated many senior Nazi officers, which enabled him to write his first book 'Defeat in the West'. This led him to a career in journalism when he became film critic for the London Evening Standard. Between 1958-62 he worked as a producer for Granada Television, and Rediffusion for a short time after.