DUNCAN SMITH was born in Sheffield in 1960 and is an explorer, travel writer, historian and photographer. He first got the history bug when his as a young boy his grandfather revealed the grave of a Roman soldier to him in his back garden. Duncan opened his own private museum before going on to read Ancient History and Archaeology at Birmingham University. He wrote and illustrated a pair of highly successful books on the curiosities of Yorkshire for The Dovecote Press before going to write Yorkshire: A Portrait in Colour, which remains in print after fifteen years. Since 2003 Duncan has been creating his own series of ground breaking European city guides – the ‘Only In’ Guides – aimed at independent cultural travellers wishing to get off the beaten track. They are published under Duncan’s own The Urban Explorer imprint. He divides his time between England and Central Europe, and is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.