Sohail Husain was born in 1951 to mixed-race immigrant parents, who scraped a living working London’s famous street markets. After leaving school, he studied geography at the University of Nottingham and was awarded a PhD there in 1976. Subsequently, he enjoyed a varied career that included 13 years as a university lecturer, 15 years with an NGO dedicated to creating safer communities and 12 years as an adviser to the UN on programmes to prevent violence against women and girls. Following retirement, and using his professional skills as a social scientist, he embarked on research into his family’s history that led to many amazing discoveries and ultimately to the publication of his memoir, 'Beyond Beliefs'. Sohail has two daughters and five grandchildren, and has lived with his wife, Caroline, in south Hampshire for more than 45 years.

Sohail is a highly experienced and entertaining speaker who in his working life addresssed audiences of many different sizes and types around the world, and who since retirement has had speaking commissions from multiple U3As, WI groups, Probus Clubs, book groups and others.