Education
He was born in the Scottish city of Dundee and was educated at Blairs in Aberdeen and the University of Paris.
He was born in the Scottish city of Dundee and was educated at Blairs in Aberdeen and the University of Paris.
During the Second World War he was part of Britain"s military intelligence in the Far East. After the war he joined the British Broadcasting Corporation as a radio scriptwriter and producer. He wrote the definitive biography of Lord Trenchard, the father of the Royal Air Force.
He also wrote "The Riddle of Erskine Childers" (London: Hutchinson ) the definitive biography of Robert Erskine Childers, Irish Nationalist and author
His biography of Brendan Bracken won the 1974 Whitbread Awards and his book The Climate of Treason exposed Anthony Blunt as the "Fourth Manitoba" in the Cambridge Five Soviet spy ring. In 1965 he was the founding editor of the British Broadcasting Corporation Radio 4 programme The World At One which "gained a reputation as one of the best informed news programs and won an audience of four million".
