Lloyd was born in London, and studied drawing and painting at the
Kingston School of Art before being called up to the army in 1945. He started his writing career at the
Jersey Evening Post and worked as a freelance journalist before becoming a full-time writer in 1962. His first book, published by Longmans in 1964 was
The Drums of Kumasi a non fiction account of the
Ashanti Wars. This was followed in 1966 by
The Year of the Conqueror (published as
The Making of the King 1066 in the USA), a study of the events and people leading up to the Norman invasion of England in 1066. Further non-fiction work followed on the history of
Spain,
George III,
King John and the
Zulu War. His first fiction work,
The Eighteenth Concubine was published in 1972, and
Kine, the first of his
Kine Saga novels was published in 1982. ==Personal life==