MAX HASTINGS is the author of more than thirty books, many of them about twentieth-century wars, including All Hell Let Loose, Catastrophe, Vietnam and Abyss. In his early years as a correspondent, he reported on eleven conflicts, including Vietnam and the 1973 Yom Kippur and 1982 Falklands wars for BBC TV and newspapers. A former editor-in-chief of the Daily Telegraph, he has won many awards both for his journalism and books, including Journalist of the Year, Reporter of the Year, Editor of the Year, together with a Somerset Maugham Prize and two RUSI Westminster Medals. He contributes to The Times, reviews books for the Sunday Times and writes a column for Bloomberg Inc. He and his wife Penny live in West Berkshire where they garden enthusiastically. He has two very grown-up children and two grandchildren.