Gordon Brook-Shepherd (1918-2004) studied history at Cambridge, where he took a double first just before the Second World War. He served in various campaigns and ended up as a Lieutenant-Colonel on the staff of the British High Commissioner in Austria. In 1948 he joined the staff of the Daily Telegraph as a foreign correspondent based in Vienna and for the next twelve years traveled widely in Europe, America, Asia and the Middle East, eventually becoming an editor at the Sunday Telegraph. He published many books on military and monarchic history, and in 1987 was awarded an OBE for his services to historiography and journalism.