William Underhill is a writer by profession and a historian by inclination. Since leaving Oxford University, he has worked as a print and radio journalist in Britain and overseas. For more than 20 years he was employed as a correspondent in London for Newsweek magazine, writing on subjects from Afghanistan to the arts. He has also written a guide to the Thames waterfront in London. Six years ago he returned to Oxford and – together with his wife, Isabella - is a member of the Oxford Guild of Guides. He still contributes occasionally to The New York Times and Architect magazine on architecture and design, and works part-time as an editor for The Week.