Paul Demet was born and brought up in Manchester and now lives in Northamptonshire with his wife, chickens and cats. He is a retired company director with a life-long interest in military history, particularly the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars and the armies of the small German states. For many years he has spent as much time as possible visiting archives, museums, and historic sites in Britain and on the Continent and is an enthusiastic collector of old books and prints. He is a long-standing member of numerous British, French and German historical societies. Although this is his first book, he is a regular contributor to Napoleonic era discussion forums.