Karen Farrington has worked an an author, ghost-writer, editor and researcher for leading UK publishers. She is credited with more than 40 non-fiction titles, specialising in modern history and biographies. A former Press Association reporter at the Central Criminal Court, she has also written regularly for women's magazines and daily newspapers.
Matthew Parris was born in Africa in 1949 and grew up in Cyprus, Rhodesia, Jamaica and Britain. He became an MP in 1979, and after seven years a Conservative MP he became the regular parliamentary sketchwriter for The Times. His books include his autobiography Chance Witness, Read My Lips, Scorn with Added Vitriol, and Inca-Kola. Parris is a regular travel writer, reviewer, broadcaster and columnist, and has presented Great Lives since 2006.