Terry Deary writes both fiction and non-fiction. The Fire Thief was his 150th book published in the UK, this was followed by Flight of the Fire Thief and The Fire Thief Fights Back. Terry's books have been translated into 28 languages. His Horrible Histories series has sold 20 million copies worldwide. Terry has won numerous awards, including Blue Peter's Best Non-fiction Author of the Century.

Horrible Histories is a series of illustrated history books published in the United Kingdom by Scholastic, and part of the Horrible Histories franchise. They are designed to engage children in history by concentrating on the unusual, gory, or unpleasant. The series has proved exceptionally successful in terms of commercial revenue.