Brian Landers started writing newspaper columns to help pay his university bar bills and since then has written articles for various journals, newspapers and websites. He was once interviewed for a job at the government spy agency GCHQ in Cheltenham but decided that traveling the world would be more exciting. His first full time role was helping a former Director General of Defense Intelligence and a motley collection of ex-spooks set up a political intelligence unit in the City of London. Out of this sprang the character of Thomas Dylan, a novice who over the years progresses through the labyrinthine world of British Intelligence. Later, as a director of Waterstone's and then of Penguin his love of writing was rekindled. His first book, Empires Apart was published in the UK, US and India and was largely written while commuting to work. He has an MBA from London Business School and in 2018 he was awarded an OBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours.