Christine Nicholls grew up and went to school in Kenya. She was educated at the Kenya High School and Oxford University. She became a researcher for the BBC, and then was Joint Editor and subsequently sole Editor of the Dictionary of National Biography for twenty years. Her other books include The Swahili Coast; David Livingstone; History of St Antony's College, Oxford 1950-2000; Elspeth Huxley: a Biography; and Red Strangers: The White Tribe of Kenya. www.csnicholls.co.uk