Alan Fewster was born in Perth in 1956. He joined the Sydney Morning Herald in 1980 and was working for the Murdoch press in the Canberra Press Gallery when in 1989 he was recruited by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. He is the author of Capital Correspondent, the Canberra Letters of Edwin Charles, 1936–37 (2002); Trusty and Well Beloved: A Life of Keith Officer, Australia’s First Diplomat (2009); The Bracegirdle Incident: How an Australian Communist Ignited Ceylon’s Independence Struggle (Arcadia, 2013); The Charles Family’s War – A Gripping Story of Twin Brothers During World War II (2016); and Three Duties and Talleyrand’s Dictum (ASP, 2018).