René Chartrand was born in Montral and educated in Canada, the United States and the Bahamas. A senior curator with Canada's National Historic Sites for nearly three decades, he is now a freelance writer and historical consultant for cinema and historic sites restorations. He has written numerous articles and books including almost 20 Osprey titles and the first two volumes of Canadian Military Heritage. Also a student of wines, he currently lives in Hull, Quebec, with his wife and two sons.
Patrice Courcelle was born in northern France in 1950 and has been a professional illustrator for some 20 years. Entirely self-taught; he has illustrated many books and magazine articles for Continental publishers, and his work hangs in a number of public and private collections. His dramatic and lucid style has won him plenty of admiration in the field of military illustration. His other enthusiasms include music, from Clapton and the blues to Mahler, and cooking. Patrice lives a few miles from the battlefield of Waterloo with his wife and son.