Harry Turtledove was born in Los Angeles in 1949. He has taught ancient and medieval history at UCLA, Cal State Fullerton, and Cal State L.A., and has published a translation of a ninth-century Byzantine chronicle, as well as several scholarly articles. He is also an award-winning full-time writer of science fiction and fantasy. His alternate history works have included several short stories and novels, including The Guns of the South, How Few Remain (winner of the Sidewise Award for Best Novel), the Great War epics: American Front and Walk in Hell, the Colonization books: Second Contact and Down to Earth, and American Empire: Blood and Iron. He is married to fellow novelist Laura Frankos. They have three daughters: Alison, Rachel, and Rebecca.

In our world, the Mediterranean basin has dried up several times, only to refill. If it hadn't, it would have become a savage desert. But in his world, that's just the way mild-mannered Radnal vez Krobir likes it.