Thomas Bertrand Costain was born on May 8, 1885, in Brantford, Ontario, Canada. He began writing novels while a teen-ager, and after publishing a mystery story left school to become a newspaper reporter. After nearly two decades of work as a journalist and editor, Costain moved to Philadelphia in 1920 to become associate editor of the popular magazine Saturday Evening Post. He tried to save enough money to become a full-time author, but lost his savings in the stock market crash of 1929. While serving as an editor for a film studio and a book publisher, he began work as a part-time novelist, retiring from publishing in 1946 to devote himself to writing. By this time, Costain had published his first three novels: For My Great Folly (1942), Ride With Me (1944), and The Black Rose (1945), which would later become a popular motion picture. All of these reflect Costain's usual technique...