A graduate of the London School of Economics and the University of Sydney, Tom was working as a political advisor in Australia when, at 25, he read his first personal development book, Stephen Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Captivated by that and by titles by the likes of Anthony Robbins and M Scott Peck, he came to the view that this was an underrated field of writing. At 30, he left his first career to write the bestselling 50 Self-Help Classics, the first guide to the personal development literature and winner of the Benjamin Franklin Award (2004).

This book was followed by 50 Success Classics (2004); 50 Spiritual Classics (2005); 50 Psychology Classics (2007); and 50 Prosperity Classics (2008), all published in the US and UK by Nicholas Brealey. With its commentaries on over 250 books in the self-development field, the series has been published in 21 languages and is sold in over 30 countries. Tom has been described by USA Today as “a true scholar of this type of literature”.

The BBC’s Imagine (2007) programme drew on his knowledge for its programme on the personal development industry, and his work is serialized in Psychologies (Hachette) and in the Citywire group’s financial publications. Tom is an experienced media guest, having made numerous radio appearances in the United Kingdom, United States and Australia. He has given talks to a variety of groups and organisations, and also leads discussion groups where he lives in Oxford, UK looking into the major writings and ideas in personal development.

Tom has also provided critical introductions to self-development and prosperity classics including Think and Grow Rich, The Science of Getting Rich, Sun Tzu’s Art of War, Machiavelli's The Prince and Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations through the Capstone Classics series published by John Wiley & Sons (Europe). He is contracted to write a motivational work for Virgin Books entitled Never Too Late To Be Great, due for publication in January 2012.

Tom’s website, Butler-Bowdon.com, with its wealth of free self-development content, has had over a million visits since its launch in 2001.

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