The late Edward Charles was a history enthusiast and author, born in South Wales in 1941. His first novel, In the Shadow of Lady Jane was published by Macmillan New Writing in May 2006. Thereafter, writing three more novels in the Richard Stocker series, following Richard from Tudor England to Renaissance Padua and Venice. A change of direction took him to Florence in the 1400s and the rise and subsequent fall of the Medici clan. He has two books published under the Pen & Sword Fiction imprint, The House of Medici: Inheritance of Power and The House of Medici: Seeds of Decline.