Richard Adams (1920-2016) studied history at Worcester College, Oxford before and after the Second World War. He was the author of nineteen books, including the bestselling and award-winning Watership Down, his first book (the illustrated edition of which was published by Oneworld Modern Classics, 2014). Two of his books, Watership Down and Shardik, were listed in the Sunday Times top 100 bestselling books of the last forty years.