Vivian Stuart was a British writer and during her writing career she had more than 70 books published in Australia, USA and the UK. Born in Berkshire in England, she spent most of her youth in Burma and India, and later lived in Hungary and Australia. At the age of thirty-five she began to write romantic fiction but soon devoted her attention to military and historical novels. The Australians series was her most ambitious venture. Originally envisaged as a series of six books, it was extended to many more by popular demand.