Michael Holman grew up in the town of Gwelo in Zimbabwe, at a time when the country was still known as Rhodesia. After gaining degrees from the University of Rhodesia and Edinburgh University, he became a journalist, working in London and Zimbabwe, before being forced, due to his outspoken opposition to Ian Smith's minority rule government, to flee to Lusaka. He lived and worked in Zambia as a Financial Times Africa correspondent from 1977 to 1984, when he came to Britain permanently to take up the role of Africa Editor at the Financial Times. He retired in 2002 but still travels frequently to Africa and writes occasional columns for the FT and Times online. His first novel, Last Orders at Harrods, will be published by Abacus in 2007, and he is currently at work on his second. He lives in east London.