Adapting to life in foreign countries and seeing things through others’ eyes was something I learned to do at an early age. When I was nine months old my family and I left New York to live in Europe. The three years we were there that time was the beginning of a long career of immersion and study in different cultures around the world. Altogether I have lived in and explored over twenty-three countries and delved into the local people’s way of life. Collecting and studying books on different societies old and new became an important part of my life, and I puzzled through them in English, French, German, Greek and Latin.

At MIT, I learned to do world-class research, then earned a master’s degree in the history of business from UCLA. Working as an international consultant afforded me many more opportunities to be in other countries and study their people and societies. When people responded well to my first books, I became fully dedicated to writing about amazing discoveries that had come to hand from around the world. That filled many pages with insights and pictures of people, places and different cultures, especially the ancient Mediterranean and Medieval Europe.

Academic colleagues benefited from my work, and responded by inviting me to present papers at universities in the USA and abroad. Other speaking engagements soon followed, as well as appearances on TV and radio programs, newspapers and magazines.

These journeys of exploration have often revealed that actual people and events are more amazing than the fanciful stories told about them. And there are more journeys to come.