Nicholas Rankin has lived in Kenya, Bolivia and Catalonia, and went round the world for his last book, Dead Man's Chest, which was described as 'most enjoyable' by Graham Greene and 'enchanting' by Alastair Reid in the New Yorker. Chief Producer, Arts, at the BBC World Service, where his radio programmes have won two UN awards, Nicholas Rankin first came across the mysterious George Steer when making a documentary feature about Guernica for the 60th anniversary of the bombing in 1997.