Christopher ‘Bulldog’ Ash BSc FRGS FRHistS grew up in the Shetland Isles and studied at Aberdeen University. After brief and undistinguished service in the British Army (Lovat Scouts and Gordon Highlanders), he drove his Land Rover to South Africa and decided to stay. Since then, he has worked in oil and mineral exploration all over Africa and the Middle East. He currently works between Johannesburg and Iraq, and is a Fellow of both the Royal Geographical Society and the Royal Historical Society.