Roger Swindells was born and brought up in Grimsby in the north of England. He transferred to Ipswich in East Anglia with his job as an officer of H.M Customs and Excise, retiring after 37 years service. A frequent visitor to Amsterdam since 1978 he is married to Lyn a retired nurse. They have a son Matthew and two grand-daughters. His first book, Mendelevski’s Box, won the bronze medal in the Readers Favorite Award 2020 Contest in the genre historical fiction.