Edward Rutherfurd is the pen name for Francis Edward Wintle, born in 1948 in the cathedral city of Salisbury. He is best known as a writer of epic historical novels that span long periods of history but are set in particular places.

Rutherfurd was educated locally and at the universities of Cambridge and Stanford, California. He worked in political research, bookselling, and publishing before deciding to focus on writing. After numerous attempts to write books and plays, he returned to his childhood home and wrote his debut novel, Sarum, a historical novel with a ten-thousand-year storyline set in the area around the ancient monument of Stonehenge and Salisbury.

Sarum became an instant international bestseller, remaining 23 weeks on the New York Times Bestseller List. Since then, Rutherfurd has written several more bestsellers, continuing his pattern of writing historical novels that blend fictional characters and families with real historical events.