Fiammetta Rocco grew up in Kenya of French-Italian parents and read Arabic at Oxford. An award-winning journalist on both sides of the Atlantic, she has been the books and arts editor of The Economist since 2003. Her book, The Miraculous Fever Tree, about malaria and the discovery of quinine, was a Radio 4 Book of the Week. She is also the administrator of the Man Booker International Prize and on the board of the Edinburgh International Book festival.