Rudyard Kipling was an English journalist, novelist, poet, and short-story writer, born on 30 December 1865, in Bombay, British India. His Indian birthplace inspired much of his literary work. Kipling is best known for his works of fiction such as the The Jungle Book (1894), Kim (1901), and the Just So Stories (1902). He also penned many short stories, including The Man Who Would Be King (1888), and poems like Mandalay (1890), Gunga Din (1890), The White Man's Burden (1899), and If— (1910).

Kipling was a major innovator in the art of the short story, and his children's books are considered enduring classics. Described by one critic as having "a versatile and luminous narrative gift," Kipling was among the United Kingdom's most popular writers during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In 1907, he became the first English-language writer to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature, and at 41, its youngest recipient to date. Although offered, he declined both the British Poet Laureateship and several knighthoods. After his death on 18 January 1936, his ashes were interred at Poet's Corner in Westminster Abbey.

Kipling's reputation has evolved with changing political and social climates. His work, reflecting the era of the European empires, has generated both criticism and admiration, establishing him as a complex yet significant figure in literary and cultural history.