Bartle Bull was born in London and educated at Harvard University and Magdalen College, Oxford. A student of Africa for over thirty years, he is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and a member of the Explorers Club. A former publisher of The Village Voice, Bull wrote an environmental column for the Voice and later for the Natural Resources Defense Council. He is the author of the widely praised novels, The White Rhino Hotel, A Café on the Nile, The Devil's Oasis, Shanghai Station and China Star.