Barnaby has written a biography of The Prophet Muhammad which was followed by the story of first four Caliphs of Islam, The Heirs of the Prophet. Before this he had written half a dozen guidebooks (to Morocco, Tunisia, Cyprus, Scotland and Istanbul) and a History of North Africa (now in its third edition).

His most recent published work is The Last Crusaders which is centred on the conflict between the Ottoman Empire and the Last Crusader Kings of Christendom such as the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, his bastard son Don Juan and his young cousin, Dom Sebastian, the boy-king of Portugal. This 150 year-long adventure story begins and ends in Morocco, from the sack of the port of Ceuta in 1415 to the Battle of the Three Kings but also follows the careers of various spies, merchants, exiles and adventurers taking the reader from the coast of China to the Carribean.

Last year he contributed the text to Don McCullin’s most recent book of photographs, Southern Frontiers, an ambitious tour across the Roman ruins in the Levant and the Maghreb. He is currently writing a book on nine heroic figures from the Maghreb for an American Publisher, to be published (God Willing) in 2011.

Over the last fifteen years he has also written dozens of travel articles, book reviews and historical essays on various North African and Islamic themes. This work has appeared in the pages of Vanity Fair, Cornucopia, Conde Nast Traveller, Geographical, Traveller, Guardian, Independent, Telegraph, House & Garden, Harpers & Queen and the TLS.

Barnaby Rogerson was conceived on a yacht and born in Dunfermline, Scotland. Travel was a vital aspect of a childhood which followed in the wake of his father's career in the Royal Navy with postings to such foreign ports as Gibraltar, Malta, Skye and a blissful two and half years near the Dismal swamp in Virginia Beach.

A degree in Medieval History at St Andrews University proved to be adequate preparation for work as a barman, tutor for a child star in a film shot on a Greek island, a pony boy in the Highlands and stints at two determinedly independent publishers which led to a job in the press department of the Afghanistan Support Committee. A chance encounter in the Outer Hebrides led to his first commission to write a guidebook to Morocco (now in its 5th edition and about to burst out of its bindings at 630 pages) followed by Tunisia, Cyprus, Istanbul and Libya. These projects were intermingled with summer's spent restoring grottoes, mixing cement and laying pebble floors in garden temples at Hampton Court, Leeds Castle and Fort Worth, Texas.

From the experience of researching guide books came the opportunity to work as a lecturer on history tours and to gradually pick up commissions as a freelance travel-writer. Articles and reviews have appeared in the TLS, Guardian, Independent, House & Garden, Harpers & Queen, Cornucopia and the Daily Telegraph. An attempt to continue this peripatetic lifestyle gradually foundered against the rival attractions of two daughters.

Alongside his partner Rose Baring, he now runs Eland Publishing which specializes in keeping the classics of travel literature in print. The 70 titles of this growing list can be viewed at www.travelbooks.co.uk.

Click here for interview with House and Garden