John Grigg was born in 1924. He won the Gladstone Memorial Prize for history at Oxford University and went on to become a journalist, both at home and abroad. He was a columnist for the Guardian for ten years, then a political correspondent for the Spectator and a staff writer for The Times. In 1978, he won the Whitbread Award for Lloyd George: The People's Champion 1902-1911 and the Wolfson Prize for Lloyd George: From Peace to War 1912-1916. His other books include Nancy Astor: Portrait of a Pioneer and 1943: The Victory that Never Was. Until this year he was Chairman of the London Library. He is now its President. He is married with two sons and lives in London.