This has proved to be a real breakthrough book for me, not least because it has sold more than 70,000 copies in hardback alone in the first two years since publication. That’s a bestseller by anybody’s measurement, and its success has enabled me to concentrate on my fiction writing, alongside the non-fiction that has proved such a staple in the past ten years. As far as the writing went, it was whilst researching this book that I stumbled on the seemingly simple idea that Nostradamus might have meant his very own index dates to be taken seriously. Previously, commentators had simply assumed, as if by rote, that Nostradamus would have concealed the true intended dates of his quatrains for fear of the Inquisition. But Nostradamus was protected by the Queen of France herself. And why would he fear the Inquisition if the vast majority of his prophecies were to take place many years, and often many centuries, after his death? No, there had to be more to his index dates than met the eye, and I decided to make it my chief aim to elucidate the mystery.

And elucidate it I did. My ‘eureka moment’ about the index dates led me to an Aladdin’s Cave of extraordinary discoveries, and allowed me to search far into the future for the truth behind Nostradamus’s uncanny gift. The book has gone on to be translated into a number of foreign languages, and to sell in every major book market in the world. As a direct result of its success, I’ve appeared on seventy-odd radio programmes, and taken part in Discovery Channel’s influential Nostradamus: The Truth documentary. Nostradamus: The Good News came next, to be followed by my the Complete Prophecies Of Nostradamus in Autumn 2009. I’ve used my knowledge of Nostradamus in my fiction, too, and my debut Adam Sabir thriller, The 52, is due out in eleven countries in 2009, with Germany alone printing an advance run of 150,000 copies.