Daniel Snowman was born in London in 1938. He has degrees from Cambridge and Cornell, and at the age of 24 became a Lecturer at the University of Sussex. He has spent much of his professional life at the BBC where, as Chief Producer, Features (Radio), he was responsible for a wide range of projects on cultural and historical subjects. His previous books include Fins de Si cle: How Centuries End 1400-2000 (with Asa Briggs), a history of twentieth-century America, a comparative study of British and US values, and critical portraits of the Amadeus Quartet and Pl cido Domingo. His most recent publication is PastMasters: The Best of History Today.