Meet the Author

 

I was born in 1938, on the feudal island of Guernsey in the Channel Islands, where my forebears had lived for many centuries. Then in 1940, Hitler's Nazi hordes swarmed across European borders, finally capturing and occupying all of the Channel Islands. In 1942, my parents and I were deported to concentration camps in Germany.

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After the war, in 1945, we returned to the Channel Islands, in the company of many other families, and started to rebuild our shattered lives. I finished my education at Elizabeth College and then completed my business training in London.

 

In 1959, I joined the Northern Rhodesia Police (Zambia).  I was recommended as an Assistant Police Inspector by His Royal Highness, the late Prince Phillip. Duke of Edinburgh, with the express purpose of helping to Africanize the police force prior to independence.   

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After this hectic and somewhat dangerous period spent in Africa, I returned to Guernsey as Director for Shell Marketing at the age of 29.  Later I founded my own International Management Company. I have also lived and worked in many of the countries mentioned in my various books.

 

I have three children, three grandchildren and three great-grandchildren from my first marriage. I am married to Dr Xue Fen Matthews (BSc, MPhil, PhD) in 2004.  After my retirement, we spend our time between the UK and China. 

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