E. V. Thompson was born on July 14 1931. He left the Burford Grammar School in Oxfordshire at the age of 16 to join the Royal Navy, where he remained until 1956, serving in Hong Kong, Japan and Korea. Before becoming a full-time writer, he worked for the Bristol constabulary, was an investigator with BOAC, was chief security officer for the department of civil aviation in Rhodesia, and worked at Devonport Naval Dockyard. His first book, Chase the Wind, was published in 1977. He wrote about 40 historical novels during his lifetime including Harvest of the Sun, The Dream Traders, Cry Once Alone, Blue Dress Girl, Somewhere a Bird Is Singing, Winds of Fortune, Beyond the Storm, and The Bonds of… Earth. He was appointed a Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2012 New Year's Honours list. He died on July 19, 2012 at the age of 81.