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Acknowledgements
I’m particularly grateful to Martin Kurzik who first encouraged me to try changing tracks, after reading my book Seahenge: A Quest for Life and Death in Bronze Age Britain (HarperCollins, 2001). The switch from non-fiction to fiction was expertly overseen by my agent, Bill Hamilton, of A.M. Heath and Co., who made many important suggestions to drafts of the manuscript. This book could not have been written without his help and encouragement. I would normally have suggested to Bill that he find a trade publisher in the usual way, but two years ago I bumped into Justin Pollard at the Hay-on-Wye Festival. I knew Justin from Time Team and he enthused about Unbound, which he had just set up with two colleagues. To cut a long story short, a year later I decided to offer the book to them and I have never regretted the decision. Unbound are more an extended family than a publisher and they have helped me master a huge number of new skills. I improved my blog (http://pryorfrancis.wordpress.com) and now Tweet (@pryorfrancis)! Jimmy Leach was the brains behind our campaign to raise subscribers and Liz Garner was my long-suffering, imaginative and diligent story-editor. The copy-editing was ably done by Kate Greig, the proof reading by Hugh Lamb and the book was designed by Green Gate Publishing. Earlier versions of the manuscript were also read and criticised in great and constructive detail by my daughter Amy and by two good friends: Kate Haddock and Iain Kitching. Another old friend, Professor Martin Jones of Cambridge University, helped me with the DNA-speak. I have drawn extensively on his book, The Molecule Hunt: Archaeology and the Search for Ancient DNA (Allen Lane, Penguin Press, 2001), a wonderfully clear introduction to a highly complex subject. My brother-in-law Nigel Smith has been a constant source of help, encouragement and practical advice. Finally, I owe special thanks to my wife and plot advisor, Maisie Taylor, who has had to read, reread and discuss no less than twelve versions of this book, over two long and very cold winters.
November, 2013
About the author
Francis Pryor was born in London in 1945. After studying archaeology at Cambridge, he emigrated to Toronto, where he joined the staff of the Royal Ontario Museum. Using the Museum as a base, he began a series of major excavations (1971–78) in England, at Fengate, on the outskirts of Peterborough. Here he revealed an extensive prehistoric landscape, culminating in the discovery in 1982 of Flag Fen, one of the best preserved Bronze Age sites in Europe. His books include his ‘Britain’ series (for HarperCollins): Britain BC, Britain AD, Britain in the Middle Ages and The Birth of Modern Britain; two of which he presented as documentary series for Channel 4. He has appeared frequently on Time Team and has presented a number of programmes for Radio 4. The Lifers’ Club is his first work of fiction.