Born in the town of Nantwich, Cheshire, the author has lived most of his life in the city of Wrexham, North Wales. He was educated at the Wrexham Technical College, and his working life involved chemical engineering construction and then aircraft manufacturing.
From the age of seventeen onward, he has had a lifetime of interest in the sport of fencing, taking part in competitions from a teenager to the age of sixty. He has spent many years on the organisation side of the sport, serving as Chairman of the Chester Fencing Club and Competition Secretary of the Cheshire Schools Fencing Association.
Now in retirement, he follows a much gentler hobby: Secretary of the Garden Village Fête Committee, involved in the running of the local fête.
Renowned fencing master Napier Gerard has been enjoying an opulent existence amidst the gaming clubs and coffee houses of late 18th‑century Paris, but this is about to change. Exiled from his native England and isolated by his reputation as a deadly duellist, he finds himself increasingly threaten...