English, though born in Geneva, and brought up in Alexandria where his family had resided since the 1900's, Derek Flower received a cosmopolitan education at Italian, French and English schools in Egypt before going to Malvern College in England and completing his studies up at Oxford, where he received an honours degree in Modern Languages. With the Suez crisis of 1956, he was forced to leave Egypt and his Lloyds of London brokerage business, and two years later settled in London with his wife Frédérique whom he had just married. There, he set up a property company specialising in overseas developments which later led him to move to the South of France and then to Italy where he also acted as financial consultant to British companies. He became involved too in the international crude oil and commodity markets, which gave him the experience on which he was subsequently able to draw for part of the background of his three generation saga Farewell Alexandria. After many years spent in Gaiole in Chianti, he moved to Rome where he devotes his time almost exclusively to writing. His lifelong interest in Pharaonic Egypt, and in Alexandria in particular, led him to write The Shores of Wisdom,a non-fiction story of the Ancient Library of Alexandria, the world's first great culture centre, from its foundation at the beginning of the 3rd century BC to its final destruction in 642 AD. This book has been published in Italy, Greece, the U.K., Brazil, and Japan. It is also available in the U.S. in an Xlibris edition. Derek's second published novel Beyond the White Walls is a thriller centred around his former family home situated near ancient Memphis in Egypt, where he wintered until recently. Once again, this book is the fruit of his interest in Pharaonic Egypt and, though set in modern times, relates to the mysteries of the Pyramid Age. It is being republished under the title, INQUEST ON IMHOTEP Derek presently lives with his wife Frédérique at the historic Villa Borghese in Nettuno near Rome.

Derek Adie Flower was requested to be one of the official writers for the new Library of Alexandria, the Biblioteca Alexandrina.