The Author
 Roger Carpenter was born and bred in Surrey, England. He is 70 plus years of age, married, with a son and daughter; they are also married and have produced four granddaughters and one grandson who are the joy of his life.
He and his wife have, for over forty years, lived in an old farm house in the North Downs. He had a horticultural company for many years which was one of the very first Garden Centres in Great Britain. He retired in 1987 and now manages 100 acres of woodland that they bought in Kent some years ago when it was neglected, overgrown and dark. After a great deal of work, the wildlife has returned to the woods.
During his National Service, he served in the Royal Artillery from 1953 to 1955 where he met three other gunners who are named in the first book's dedication page, Tom, John and Paul. They, plus his Bombardier side-kick Stan Williams, are all still very good friends and in frequent contact. It was during his time as a Gunner that he developed an interest in military history.
He did target shooting for many years (alongside John and Tom) and annually shot at both the summer meetings at Bisley. He is a life member of the National Rifle Association, the National Small Bore Association, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and the Woodland Trust. The high point in his shooting career was to win the NSRA Surrey Championship in 1981.
As an avid reader of C.S. Forester, Alexander Kent and Bernard Cornwell, he immersed himself in his main interest of late 19th and early 20th century military engagements and weaponry before writing "Rutland's Curse," his debut novel. This is based on the adventures of newly commissioned Second Lieutenant Peter Rutland, Royal Artillery, during the Second Afghan War in 1879.
The sequel "Rutland's Guns," published by Author House, is based on the same officer, Peter Rutland, who is now a Major and serving in the Boer War in 1900.
The third novel in the Rutland series is about Arthur Rutland, Peter’s father, and his exploits in the American Civil war as a military observer attached to the Union Army.
The fourth book in the series, currently being written, continues in America with some of the same characters, and then relates to the opening of the west after the Civil War.
You can read parts of the story line if you go to the Publications section of this site. There are also some historical details regarding the weapons used.
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