It did indeed, Bill.
Aside of the fact that Les was "larger than life" in his own eyes, he did really take George Beauchamp's pickup idea to the next level. His motto was "the string is the thing", and he focused on converting the string's vibrations directly to electricity, apart from the tonal characteristics of the traditional hollow body. The Log was his first attempt at this, as you obviously know ... and away we go.
The one bad part of the book I must mention is the almost total absence of the 70's. The authors jump from the late-60's to Eddie Van Halen in the late-70's, with many of the great 70's guitarists almost ignored. For example, David Gilmour isn't even mentioned in the entire book!