Terrence Hanbury White (1906-1964) was born in Bombay. After a difficult upbringing in India and then Sussex, he studied English at Queen's College, Cambridge. During a year spent in Italy after contracting tuberculosis, White started work on his first novel, They Winter Abroad (finally published in 1932), returning to Cambridge where he continued to write, publishing Loved Helen and other poems (1929).White was a troubled figure, prone to melancholy, guilt and drinking bouts, but a master stylist, with a sharp eye for social observation. After four years as Head of English at Stowe School, White resigned to write full-time, publishing The Sword and the Stone (1938), part one of an Arthurian tetralogy, which was adapted for the stage in 1959 as the musical Camelot. This was followed by the Walt Disney cartoon The Sword in the Stone (1963). White also wrote historical works, including The Age of Scandal (1950) and The Scandalmonger (1952).

Terrence Hanbury White (1906-1964) was born in Bombay. After a difficult upbringing in India and then Sussex, he studied English at Queen's College, Cambridge. During a year spent in Italy after contracting tuberculosis, White started work on his first novel, They Winter Abroad (finally published in 1932), returning to Cambridge where he continued to write, publishing Loved Helen and other poems (1929).White was a troubled figure, prone to melancholy, guilt and drinking bouts, but a master stylist, with a sharp eye for social observation. After four years as Head of English at Stowe School, White resigned to write full-time, publishing The Sword and the Stone (1938), part one of an Arthurian tetralogy, which was adapted for the stage in 1959 as the musical Camelot. This was followed by the Walt Disney cartoon The Sword in the Stone (1963). White also wrote historical works, including The Age of Scandal (1950) and The Scandalmonger (1952).