Gurney first became interested in prediction at an early age, when his grandfather, a headmaster at one of the north of England's top grammar schools, told him about the prophecies of Old Mother Shipton, a legendary folklore character in the author's native county of Yorkshire.

"I was fascinated with the idea that someone could actually "see" events that where going to happen in the future." says Gurney. "At that young age my imagination knew no bounds and when my grandfather talked to me about The Book of Revelation, Nostradamus and the Book of Daniel I was immediately captivated by the images they portrayed."

This fascination with ancient prophecy continued during Gurney's education. Aftert university he joined the BBC as a broadcaster, journalist and producer. It was while he was working for the BBC that he first met and interviewed Tony Stratton-Smith, the founder of Charisma records and the man who discovered Phil Collins and Genesis. Stratton-Smith was so impressed by Gurney's knowledge and love of pop music that later he offered him a position in Charisma's artist promotion department. Tempted by the lure of sex and drugs and rock 'n' roll he spent the 70's working with the likes of Phil Collins, Genesis, David Cassidy, Rod Stewart, The Eagles, Joni Mitchell, Jackson Browne, Linda Ronstadt and Fleetwood Mac, promoting these artistes on their tours of the UK, before moving to California, where he worked in the music business for three years.

Returning to Britain in 1979, Gurney worked for Sir Richard Branson at Virgin Records before rejoining the BBC as a programme presenter and news producer in 1983. His strong opinions and forthright attitude marked him out as a lively and controversial character in broadcasting circles, where he took no prisoners and refused steadfastly to suffer fools gladly. It was during the production of a series of religious programmes that a chance conversation with the eminent theologian Professor John Sawyer, and a subsequent discussion on the prophetic books of the Bible, persuaded Gurney to research the numerology contained in the books of Daniel and Revelation and to look further into the "end time" prophecies encompassed in the world's major religious and eschatological works.

During the next eight years he travelled extensively around the Mediterranean researching the original Aramaic and Greek texts of the scriptures. Gurney decided to base himself on an idyllic Greek island throughout his research and writing whilst learning Greek in order to compare the original Greek texts with the English translation of the authorised version of the King James Bible. He journeyed from Jerusalem in Israel to the Vatican City in Italy; Patmos in Greece to Istanbul in Turkey; Armagh in Ireland to the ancient Mesopotamian city of Susa; Egypt to the south of France, all the time examining and researching some of the world's most intriguing prophetic works, from sources as diverse as Nostradamus, St. Malachy, the Bible, The Book of Enoch, Paracelsus and the Koran. As part of this research he visited the Tomb of Daniel, the Old Testament Prophet, outside the ancient ruins of Persepolis in Iran, The Sacred Cave of Saint John the Divine on the Greek island of Patmos, where the Book of Revelation was written and entered The Dome of the Rock, the third holiest shrine of Islam, situated on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

His research was not entirely without incident. He was asked to leave the Vatican library after spending a week conducting research there, when he made inquiries about access to some sensitive documents in their archives, and was arrested and questioned by the Greek authorities on the Holy island of Patmos, where Orthodox priests suspected him of taking illegal photographs inside the Sacred Cave of St. John the Divine. He was also questioned by Israeli security forces at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, after being suspected of involvement in anti Israeli activities whilst visiting The Dome of the Rock. Gurney was, however, completely unfazed by all this attention and continued to research and document his findings, speaking with many academics and theologians on his travels around some of the most sensitive areas of the Middle East.

The end result of this research led Gurney to an astonishing conclusion that is currently shaking the theological establishment. Ancient prophecy and world events are running in parallel, Mankind's destiny has already been decided. He believes that the dogma of most academics and theologians has blinded them to the truth of the numerology in Daniel and Revelation and that most scholars and scientists no longer have the imagination to believe that world events can be foretold before they happen. Whilst appearing on the UK's National Talk Radio he clashed with the well known British astronomer Professor Sir Patrick Moore. Gurney claimed that the total eclipse of August 11th. 1999 would be followed by a major earthquake. Professor Moore rubbished Gurney's claims, but two days later on August 13th. the Turkish earthquake killed over 20,000 people.

In December 2000 Gurney wrote an article to The London Times claiming that the UK and US stock markets would suffer a severe downturn in 2001. Though most analysts and financial experts scoffed at these claims, he has been proved correct. Gurney now believes that a small volcano called Cumbre Vieja on the island of La Palma in the Atlantic could, for reasons explained in his book, cause a mega tsunami that will obliterate the eastern seaboard of the USA, killing millions. He claims he can prove that mankind has less than twenty two years left on this planet before Judgement Day.