Pseudonym of John Dick Scott. He was born in Lanarkshire, Scotland. He was educated at Stewart's College and at Edinburgh University where he took an honours degree in History. Married in 1941, he became Assistant Principal at the Ministry of Aircraft Production in London during the war, and went on to join the Cabinet Office as an official war historian in 1944. From 1953 to 1956, he was literary editor at the Spectator. In 1963, he went to the USA to become editor of the World Bank's periodical Finance and Development. He is the creator of 'Mark Raeburn', a private detective.