Robert Lyman was for 20 years an officer in the British Army. Educated at Scotch College, Melbourne and the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, he has degrees from the Universities of York, Wales, London and Cranfield. His previous books are Slim, Master of War: Burma and the Birth of Modern Warfare (2004), First Victory: Britain's Forgotten Struggle in the Middle East (2006) and The Generals: Leadership in the Burma Campaign 1941-1945 (2008).