AN AUTHOR who relinquished a lifetime's work in some of the world's most dangerous places to turn his hand to writing will give a talk in Cross Hills.

Philip Caine will speak about his life and debut novel, Picnic in Iraq, at the village library next Thursday, April 28.

It is the latest stop on his library tour.

He has already visited Bentham and Ingleton and will be signing copies of his book at Settle Library today from 2pm to 5pm.

After working across several continents in the oil and gas industry, often in remote and hazardous locations, Mr Caine travelled to Iraq in 2003 to lead a major project for the American military.

He spent nearly seven years there, providing support to more than 30,000 troops in Baghdad and throughout Northern Iraq.

The storyline of his book is fictional, but is based on actual events.

Mr Caine will be at Cross Hills Library at 7.30pm.

Tickets for the event are £2, including refreshments.

Email crosshills.library@northyorks.gov.uk, phone 01609 534502 or call at the library for more details.