Ferdinand Mount was born in 1939 and won scholarships to Eton, Christ Church, Oxford and Vienna University. Novelist, The Sunday Times columnist and Conservative Party politician, Mount was head of the policy unit in 10 Downing Street in 1982-83, during the time when Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister, and wrote the 1983 Tory general election manifesto. For 11 years (1991-2002) he was editor of the Times Literary Supplement. Today, he is a regular contributor to Standpoint magazine. He lives in London.