Antal Szerb was born in 1901 into a cultivated Budapest family. He obtained a doctorate in German and English Literature and was a prolific scholar, writing numerous books on drama, poetry and literary history, including the still-influential History of World Literature (1941). His first novel, The Pendragon Legend, published in 1934, is set in London and Wales. Journey by Moonlight, appeared in 1937, followed in 1942 by Oliver VII and The Queen's Necklace. Szerb died in the forced-labour camp at Balf in January 1945.