Fergus Hume was an English novelist who had ambitions as a playwright. He completed literary and legal studies at the University of Otago before moving to Melbourne.

"I could write on and on about this book. It has so much to explore and it would be fun to do so, but at this point I’ll simply recommend it to you and hope that you’ll find time to discover and enjoy it too. It was, in its time, a best-seller … "