Dominic Sandbrook was educated at Oxford, St Andrews and Cambridge, and was an academic at Sheffield before becoming a writer. He is best known for his histories of Britain since the 1950's, most recently Who Dares Wins, as well as a series of history books for young readers, Adventures in Time. He has presented many documentaries on BBC Two and Radio 4, and is a columnist for The Times, a book critic for the Sunday Times, and a fellow of the Royal Historical Society.

Tom Holland is an award-winning historian, translator and broadcaster. His most recent book, Pax, covers the heyday of the Roman Empire. He has translated Herodotus and Suetonius, and written and presented several TV documentaries, on subjects ranging from the Islamic State to dinosaurs. He has been described by The Times as “a leading English cricketer”.