PAUL BRITTEN AUSTIN was born in Dawlish, South Devon. His parents were the writers Frederick B. A. King and Mildred King. He was educated at Winchester College. In 1951, he married novelist Margareta Bergman, sister of film director Ingmar Bergman. They lived in Stockholm, where he worked for Radio Sweden as head of English-language broadcasting. Paul Britten Austin spent twenty-five years researching and writing his vast study of Napoleon’s invasion of Russia in 1812. His 1815 book follows the same principle of ‘stitching together’ eyewitness accounts to create an exciting narrative.