John Keay's books include 'India Discovered', 'The Honourable Company', 'Last Post: The End of Empire in the Far East', the two-volume 'Explorers of the Western Himalayas', 'India: A History', 'The Great Arc', 'Sowing the Wind: The Seeds of Conflict in the Middle East' and 'Mad About the Mekong: Exploration and Empire in South East Asia'. He is married with four children, lives in Scotland, and is the co-author, with Julia Keay, of the 'Collins Encyclopaedia of Scotland'.