A professional soldier for fifteen years, John Rowe 'saw active service in the Malayan Emergency, Kashmir, Borneo and Vietnam, where he was promoted to Major. He was serving with the United States Defense Intelligence Agency in Washington, D. C. when the publication of his first book, Count Your Dead (1968), caused heated international controversy and triggered his resignation'.

Travelling extensively to research his novels, Rowe has drawn on his military background and experience of foreign affairs to inspire plots which involve political machinations and the global dynamics of war. He has also published the non-fiction work, Vietnam: The Australian Experience (1987).

(Source: Rowe The Jewish Solution, 1980)