Stephen Dando-Collins is an Australian historical author and novelist, with books on antiquity, American, Australian, British, Roman and French history, and more recently the two world wars. He also writes children's novels, the first of which, Chance in a Million,, was filmed by PolyGram as Paws, starring Billy Connolly. In 2012, he started the Caesar the War Dog series of children's novels, based on the true stories of modern-day military dogs serving in Afghanistan and elsewhere, with the fifth in the series published in 2016. He contributes articles to various journals such as BBC History Magazine and Australian Heritage Magazine, and lectures about his books.
Early life and education
Dando-Collins was born in the Tasmanian city of Launceston on 1 May 1950, and went to school in Hobart. As a teenager he played drums in several rock bands, and at the age of 19 he was co-founder and first secretary of the Van Diemen Light Railway Society.
Career
After working in Australia and Britain as a graphic designer, copywriter, creative director, and senior advertising agency executive, he became an independent marketing consultant in Sydney. He ran the Australian operations of an American market research company before moving to Noosa Heads, and then to the Tamar Valley in Tasmania, where he writes full-time. He and his wife Louise, also an author, live in a former nunnery. Pasteur's Gambit won Dando-Collins a 2009 Queensland Premier's Literary Award and was shortlisted for the Victorian Premier's Literary awards. Dando-Collins and his wife founded the Festival of Golden Words in Tasmania's Tamar Valley, which has become the Tamar Valley Writers Festival. Since his 2010 work Legions of Rome,, Dando-Collins focused on World War I and World War II history and the biographies of Australians who have made a mark on the world stage. He made a return to Roman history in 2019 with his biography of Caligula, third emperor of Rome, and to Persian history with his 2020 biography of Cyrus the Great.
Books
Caesar's Legion: The Epic Saga of Julius Caesar's Elite Tenth Legion and the Armies of Rome
Nero's Killing Machine : The True Story of Rome's Remarkable 14th Legion
The Inquest
Standing Bear Is a Person: The True Story of a Native American's Quest for Justice
Cleopatra's Kidnappers : How Caesar's Sixth Legion Gave Egypt to Rome and Rome to Caesar
Mark Antony's Heroes: How the Third Gallica Legion Saved an Apostle and Created an Emperor
Blood of the Caesars: How the Murder of Germanicus Led to the Fall of Rome
Captain Bligh's Other Mutiny: The True Story of the Military Coup That Turned Australia into a Two-Year Rebel Republic.
Tycoon's War: How Cornelius Vanderbilt Invaded a Country to Overthrow America's Most Famous Military Adventurer.
