A.D. Harvey was born and brought up in Colchester, read history at St. John’s College Oxford, obtained his Ph.D. at Cambridge, taught there for some years and then became an antiques dealer. Later he taught at Italian, French and German universities. He is the author of a number of historical works that were favourably reviewed in the national press and of three previous novels, including Warriors of the Rainbow, described by The Guardian as ‘weirdly compelling’ and by The Independent as ‘free-flowing and poetic… unforgettable’.