Trevor Ravenscroft was born in England in 1921. He was educated at Repton School, then Sandhurst Military College, before serving as a commando officer in World War II. He was captured in a failed attempt to assassinate Field Marshal Rommel in North Africa and was a POW in Germany from 1941 to 1945, escaping three times but recaptured each time. After the war he studied medicine at St. Thomas's Hospital, and later became a journalist. He studied history under Dr. Walter Johannes Stein for twelve years, carrying out extensive research for The Spear of Destiny. Ravenscroft also lectured on history in London and Edinburgh and wrote The Mark of the Beast and The Cup of Destiny. He died in 1989. Tim Wallace-Murphy is an author and lecturer with an international reputation. He is the driving force behind the creation of the European Templar Heritage Research Network and author of Rosslyn and The Mark of the Beast.