Richard Adams was born in Bershire, England in 1920. He studied history at Bradfield and Worcester College, Oxford before serving in World War II. After the war, Adams joined the Civil Service, where he put into action the Clean Air Act and the Thames Barrage, and from which he retired in 1974 to devote himself full-time to writing. The idea for his novel 'Watership Down' came to him during a long car ride when he needed a story to entertain his children. The book went on the receive both the Carnegie medal and the Guardian award for children's fiction in 1972. Watership Down was rejected seven times before finally being accepted by Rex Collings. It was originally published in a first… edition of 2,500 in 1972, but progressed to large sales. With American publication it became an adult and world-wide bestseller, selling over a million copies in record time. After Watership Down appeared in the US, Adams became in demand as a writer-in-residence. Her spent several years at American universities. There have been excerpts of Watership Down read on B.B.C. radio, an animated film, a musical version, a dramatic performance in Regent's Park and a children's television series. Adams has produced six major novels, together with several collections of short stories, travel writing, poetry and works on natural history. He has been president of the R.S.P.C.A.. He has been made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature