Peter Chippindale was born in northern India on July 4, 1945. He received a history degree at Reading and eventually became a journalist. He worked at the Guardian for several years. He wrote or co-wrote numerous non-fiction books including Juntas United, The Thorpe Committal, Disaster!, Stick It Up Your Punter!, Dished!, and Life As Sutch. He also wrote the novel Mink! He died of kidney failure on August 10, 2014 at the age of 69.