James Cumes graduated in Arts (Queensland) and Diplomatic Studies (Canberra) and is a Doctor of Philosophy (London). He served with the Australian Army in Papua and Dutch New Guinea in World War II and later held diplomatic posts in Paris, Geneva, London, Bonn and Berlin. He became Ambassador to the European Union and several individual countries, High Commissioner to Nigeria and visiting Ambassador to other West African countries, Permanent Representative to the United Nations and UNIDO in Vienna, Governor on the Board of the International Atomic Energy Agency, and Australian representative at UN and other meetings around the world.
During his time at the University of Queensland, Cumes was Acting Editor and Deputy Editor of the student publication Semper Floreat. After the war he published numerous short stories in the magazine AM: The Australian Monthly, and Sydney newspapers the Sun and the Mirror, as well as articles on sport, book reviews, and articles on foreign policy and economics (the latter for Australian Outlook). In addition to his novels, Cumes has written books on various aspects of history, economics, philosophy and government including The Indigent Rich (1971), Their Chastity Was Not Too Rigid: Leisure Times in Early Australia (1979), How to Become a Millionaire Without Really Working (1990), The Human Mirror: The Narcissistic Imperative in Human Behaviour (2000) and America's Suicidal Statecraft: The Self-Destruction of a Super Power (2007). With his Austrian wife , Heide Schulte von Bäuminghaus, who is herself a successful author, he has moved between homes in Australia, Austria, Monaco and the South of France.
