A graduate of Canterbury and Auckland Universities, David Grant became a professional historian in 1991, after successful careers in newspaper journalism and secondary school teaching. This is his fourteenth published book and his third biography. He has also written many essays and articles for a wide range of historical publications, and has appeared in film, television and radio documentary programmes. A founding executive member of PHANZA (Professional Historians' Association of New Zealand Aotearoa), David is a life member and former chairperson of the Labour History Project, and is a trustee and secretary of the Collective Media Trust, a collective of prominent film-makers. He lives in Wellington.