MacKinlay Kantor (born Benjamin McKinlay Kantor) was an American journalist, novelist, and screenwriter. He wrote more than 30 novels, several of which were set during the American Civil War. Kantor was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1956 for his 1955 novel, Andersonville. He also wrote the novel Gettysburg, set during the Civil War.

Kantor was born in Webster City, Iowa, in 1904. His mother, a journalist, encouraged him to develop his writing style. He started writing seriously as a teenager when he worked as a reporter with his mother at the local newspaper in Webster City.

Kantor's first novel was published when he was 24. During World War II, he reported from London as a war correspondent for a Los Angeles newspaper. After flying on several bombing missions, he asked for and received training to operate the bomber.