William Shepherd studied classics and philosophy at Clare College, Cambridge, in the 1960s and then embarked on a career in publishing which finally brought him to Osprey, where he retired as chief executive in 2007. He is author of Herodotus: the Persian War (Cambridge University Press, 1982), a classical studies textbook, and of Campaigns 222 and 239, on the battles of Salamis and Plataea, and was joint editor of the Osprey Military Journal. He lives in the Cherwell Valley, north of Oxford.