David Lindsay was a British author born in London in 1876 to a middle-class Scottish Calvinist family. He was educated at Colfe's School in Lewisham and was awarded a scholarship to attend university. However, due to financial reasons, he entered the insurance industry instead, working at Lloyd's of London.
After serving in World War I, Lindsay moved to Cornwall with his young wife and began writing full-time. He is best known for his contributions to science fiction and fantasy, with his most famous work being "A Voyage To Arcturus," which was written in 1920. Although Lindsay did not receive much recognition during his lifetime, his work has since gained a large following and is highly regarded by peers and contemporaries such as J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis. Lindsay's writing is philosophical in nature and he has been described as a gnostic who viewed the "real" world as an illusion which must be rejected in order to perceive genuine truth.