Born in Londonderry, Northern Ireland in 1948, Bill Simpson entered the Royal Air Force as an Aircraft Apprentice in January 1964 and after three years was selected to attend the Royal Air Force College, Cranwell as an officer cadet.

A military career of 25 years ended with command of a Royal Air Force base at RAF Hendon, London, which he closed in 1987. During that career, Mr. Simpson traveled extensively with his wife Wendy and was promoted to Wing Commander. Highlights of the career include the birth of two sons and a daughter, and on behalf of the Royal Air Force, he had the distinction of receiving the honorary freedoms of both the London Borough of Barnet and the town of Leighton Linslade in Bedfordshire.

Bill was also presented with the award of Member of the Order of the British Empire by the Queen at Buckingham Palace in 1980, a legacy of a two-year tour in Northern Ireland where he had been responsible for all air transport operations during the height of the ‘Troubles,’ and also supported a home for mentally handicapped children in Belfast. He had a repeat visit to Buckingham Palace in 1988, when he was invested as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire by her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth in recognition of his work, including charitable activities for handicapped children, at RAF Stations Hendon and Stanbridge.

Taking premature retirement from the Royal Air Force, Bill entered the world of financial services, setting up in business with a colleague and he subsequently became involved in commercial finance and business planning. Bill later founded and became Chief Executive of an Internet company, ‘The Local Channel,’ and also worked with a Mayfair-based hedge fund to establish that business in Washington DC.

An unexpected health problem, fortunately minor in nature, prompted Bill to take stock of his life. He decided to take up writing, a decision that coincidentally occurred soon after Bill had renewed his friendship with a Cranwell colleague - a Saudi prince. That meeting uncovered the compelling and powerful story of Bandar’s remarkable life.

Bill’s first book is therefore the explosive and revealing biography of his friend and colleague, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, the Ambassador to the United States for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia - a man of astonishing talent whose exploits on the world stage have hitherto been kept, much as he operates, in the shadows.

The author meets Secretary of State Colin Powell in his Washingon D.C. office on November 5, 2006.	The author meets former President Jimmy Carter at the Carter Center in Atlanta, Georgia.