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I was very fortunate to be inspired to love history by two excellent masters at my old school. However, it was only late in my career in the Royal Navy that I became interested in naval and military history. Sadly, our naval history lessons at Dartmouth were good opportunities to catch up on some much needed sleep. ​ I spent twenty years in the Royal Navy, serving in a variety of ships and submarines, in naval intelligence and as a Mandarin Chinese interpreter. I came to writing late in life. I began to find true stories of heroic deeds more fascinating than fiction and one day I suddenly thought, 'More people should know about this.' From that point I began to evolve a series of plots to honour some very courageous people. ​ My novels are not history books, but all are based on real events and, generally, historically accurate. It is the author's privilege to twist facts or rearrange them to fit the story for the purposes of entertainment. However, I hope they will inspire you to read the actual history of the events portrayed. The Custom of the Trade includes the very successful submarine campaign in the Dardanelles. Now the Darkness Gathers is a tale of the early days of the formation of Britain's Secret Service and a plot by the Germans to call a Jihad against the British rule in the Near East and India. Although the novels are stand-alone stories, it would help the reader to have read one of the first two books in the WW1 For Those in Peril series before reading the third, The Wings of the Wind, about the development of naval aviation and the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS). It includes, too, something of the early exploits of the RNAS's armoured car division and the Royal Naval Division. My fourth book, Where the Baltic Ice is Thin, features the tragic tale of the Royal Navy's submarine flotilla in Russia during the Russian Revolution. It is the sequel to the first novel in my WW1 series and, like the first book, is based on true events. I am presently writing the next book in the series. My latest novel, They Have No Graves as Yet, is not part of the above series, but highlights the courage of the WW2 mine disposal officers. It has just been published and I hope to write the sequel next year. I am most fortunate to live with my wife, Hilary, in the beautiful Forest of Bowland in Lancashire. Here I enjoy reading, cooking, wine, cycling, walking, rowing, singing, playing classical guitar and gardening.