Eric Ambler (1909-98) was born in London to parents who were part-time entertainers. He studied engineering but left college without taking a degree and became a copywriter in the advertising industry. Between 1937 and 1940, he published his great anti-fascist spy thrillers: Uncommon Danger, Epitaph for a Spy, Cause for Alarm, The Mask of Dimitrios, and Journey into Fear. In 1940, he joined the Royal Artillery and was later transferred to the army film unit. After the war he worked as a screenwriter in England and Hollywood and married his second wife, a leading Hollywood producer. Ambler's post-war novels include Passage of Arms, The Light of Day and A Kind of Anger, and his profound influence on the genre has been acknowledged by writers including Graham Greene, Ian Fleming and John le Carré. Norman Stone (1941-2019) was one of Britain's most celebrated historians. He was the author of The Eastern Front, 1914-1917 (winner of the Wolfson Prize and published by Penguin), Europe Transformed and The Atlantic and its Enemies. He taught at the universities of Cambridge, Oxford and Bilkent.

'Holds one up as effectively as a gun barrel' Evening Standard 'If you want to experience the feel of the Continent in the 1930s, you will find few better guides' - Robert Harris