Abigail Austen

Abi Austen's writing draws on her life as a paratrooper, army officer, police officer, diplomat, journalist award-winning documentary-maker and adventurer.

Her first book, 'Lord Roberts' Valet', draws on her three years military service in Kandahar, Afghanistan. It is a searing indictment of war, right from the inside track of the coalition effort in the most dangerous city in the world.

Born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, she has lived and worked around the world. She currently lives in Kyiv, Ukraine, where she is working on a memoir of her other adventures.

Called 'Sugar and Spice', that volume will be available in early 2016.