After studying History at Corpus Christi College, Oxford and Journalism at Indiana University, Tony Allan worked for the British Broadcasting Company and as a magazine editor before turning to book publishing. In the course of a 13-year stint with Time-Life Books in London and Alexandria, Va., he served as editor and writer on multi-volume book series including the 24-volume Time-Life History of the World . He has since written children's books for Usborne Publishing and schoolbooks for Heinemann Educational, as well as titles for adults on history and myth including The Mythic Bestiary (2008), Prophecies (2009), and Vikings: The Battle at the End of Time (2010). At last count his books had been translated into 14 languages, including Korean and Japanese.