Julian Leatherdale's first love was theatre and acting. He studied academic history at university but discovered his passion for popular history as a staff writer, researcher and photo editor for Time-Life's Australians At War series. He later researched and co-wrote scripts for two one-hour Film Australia documentaries Return to Sandakan and The Forgotten Force, shown on ABC TV and overseas. For several years he was the public relations manager for an international hotel school in the Blue Mountains where he currently lives with his wife and two children.