With a collection of anecdotes from Arthur Walton, my Grandad, filed in my head, I knew one day I needed to record them in some way. He died in 1972 (I was 11). Lockdowns created the time to start the project. I started writing without knowing what would emerge and without the intention of a book for publication. I had a beginning, August 1914, and an end, 1920, which gave me a timeline. I needed to fill the gap.

The outcome evolved into far too many words for one book; detailed research into a forgotten part of British History with 'Churchill's Intervention', and a fascination with the Allied involvement in Russia.

My dad was a professional soldier and I was too; in the Royal Artillery, like my Grandad. I left the army in 1987 to work in financial markets for 25 years, travelling extensively to the great city's of the world. I was at school in South East London, I studied Economics at Warwick University, and later for a Master of Business Administration. After a City career in 2006, I co-founded a technology development business.

Having disliked composing imaginative stories at school, I now find inspiration everywhere. My writing weaves fiction within historical facts of real events throughout WW1 and during a period largely forgotten by British historians; our involvement in the Russian Civil War.

I've spoken at conferences and I'm on the Western Front Association's speaker list. Other groups I've presented to include The Royal British Legion, Regimental Veterans, Rotary and Probus clubs, Writers groups and the U3A. https://www.andystuart.net/