Karolyn Shindler read Modern History at St Hugh's College, Oxford. She worked in publishing and magazines before becoming a producer and editor at the BBC. There she worked on such programmes as Radio Four's The World Tonight and BBC2's Newsnight. She also worked as a political consultant to the BBC World Service. She lives in London with her partner, the broadcaster and journalist Henry Kelly, and their son, Alexander. She is a contributor to the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.