Born in England in 1927 the author became an archaeologist charged with saving the buried relics of bombed London. Seven years later he accepted the post of archaeological director at Colonial Williamsburg and remained there until his retirement in 1987. His first books were published while he was still in London, and thirteen more have followed, interspersing historical fiction with Virginia history and archaeology. His play about Virginia colonist John Smith ran in Williamsburg throughout its 400^th Anniversary and his television programs have won international awards. Throughout his career Hume has been a well-known lecturer at museums, in academic halls, and the theater of the National Geographic Society. He devoted one of his Washington lectures to the history of Egyptian graffiti.