Ross King is a highly regarded historical fiction and nonfiction author, who was born in Estevan, Saskatchewan, Canada and raised in the nearby village of North Portal. He received his undergraduate education at the University of Regina, where he completed a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree in English Literature in 1984. King continued his studies at the University of Regina, receiving a Master of Arts degree in 1986 upon completing a thesis on the poet T.S. Eliot. He later achieved a Ph.D. from York University in Toronto, specializing in eighteenth-century English literature.
King began his writing career by producing two works of historical fiction in the 1990s, before turning his attention to non-fiction. He has since written several critically acclaimed and best-selling historical works, including Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling, for which he was nominated for a National Book Critics Circle Award in 2003. Brunelleschi’s Dome was a commercial and critical success, appearing on the bestseller lists of the New York Times, the Boston Globe, and the San Francisco Chronicle. The book also received several awards, including the 2000 Book Sense Nonfiction Book of the Year. King is known for his engaging and informative writing style, and his ability to bring historical figures and events to life. He currently lives in Woodstock, England with his wife Melanie.