Born in Cartagena, Spain, Arturo Pérez-Reverte is currently one of the most successful Spanish language writers reaching best seller standards in many countries. After leaving his home country, Pérez-Reverte became a journalist first for a Spanish newspaper, covering former Spanish African colonies in conflict, and then for television reporting from Bosnia. His novels The Flanders Panel (that won France's Grand Prize for Detective Literature), The Club Dumas, The Seville Communion, The Fencing Master, The Nautical Chart, and The Queen of the South have been translated into twenty-eight languages and published in fifty countries. In 2002, he was elected to the Spanish Royal Academy.