Like Tintin, Michael Farr was a reporter, in his case for Reuters and then for the Daily Telegraph. He covered many of the same countries, or at least their real-life counterparts. He came to know Herge himself, and for this book was given access to his immense archive. Now the leading British expert on all aspects of Tintin, he is the author of Tintin: The Complete Companion, Tintin: Sixty Years of Adventure, and the translator of The Adventures of Tintin at Sea, Herge and Tintin, Reporters and Tintin and the World of Herge. His books on other subjects include Vanishing Borders (shortlisted for the Thomas Cook Award) and Berlin! Berlin!