Husband and wife Yves Rémy and Ada Rémy are writers and filmmakers, best known for their classic alternate European history Les Soldats de la mer (The Soldiers of the Sea), from which this piece is taken. The collection of linked stories was first published in 1968 and multiply reprinted since. Together they have authored short stories, radio plays, and three other novels, one of which, La Maison du Cygne (The House of the Swan) won the Grand Prix de l’Imaginaire at Utopiales in 1979.