Louis de Bernières was born in London in 1954. After graduating in Philosophy from the Victoria University of Manchester, he took a postgraduate certificate in Education at Leicester Polytechnic and passed his MA, with distinction, at the University of London. Louis de Bernières, who lives in Norfolk, published his first novel in 1990 and was selected by Granta magazine as one of the twenty Best of Young British Novelists in 1993. Since then he has become well known internationally as a writer and his sixth novel, Birds Without Wings, came out in 2004. Captain Corelli's Mandolin (1994), won the Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best Novel. A Partisan's Daughter 2008, was shortlisted for the Costa Novel Award and his new book, Notwithstanding: English Village Stories, was published in Autumn 2009. As well as writing, he plays the flute, mandolin, clarinet and guitar.
Australian David Field has been a screen and theatre actor for more than twenty years. He has many film credits to his name, including as director of the acclaimed feature film The Combination and a lead role in the television series City Homicide. David has won AACTA, Film Critic and Helpmann Awards, as well as international acclaim at the AFIN International Film Festival. He has also provided narration for Red Dog by Louis de Bernières.