Andrew Lownie read history at Magdalene College, Cambridge where he was President of the Union, and Edinburgh University. He has been a bookseller, journalist, publisher and since 1988 has run his own literary agency.

His books include North American Spies (1991), a life of the writer John Buchan The Presbyterian Cavalier (1995), edited collections of John Buchan’s short stories and poetry and three editions of a literary guide to Edinburgh (1992,2000 and 2005). His next book is Stalin’s Englishman, a life of the spy Guy Burgess.

Email: lownie@globalnet.co.uk