Botting was born in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey; he lived in and went to school in Worcester Park. Having witnessed the London Blitz first-hand, he went on to make documentaries and write historical records of the Second World War and aviation. Botting got an early flavour of travel when he served as an infantry subaltern for the King's African Rifles in Kenya, as part of his National Service. He went on to study English at St Edmund Hall, Oxford, during which time he undertook a pioneering exploration of the little-known island of Socotra in the Indian Ocean. His first book, "Island of the Dragon's Blood", is an account of this trip.