Thomas Bertram Costain was born on May 8, 1885, in Brantford, Ontario. He was a Canadian-American journalist who gained fame as a best-selling author of historical novels at the age of 57. Before achieving success as a novelist, Costain had written several early novels, including a 70,000-word romance about Maurice of Nassau, Prince of Orange, though these were initially rejected by publishers.

Costain's first writing success came in 1902 when the Brantford Courier accepted a mystery story from him. He went on to work as a reporter there for five dollars a week. Between 1908 and 1910, he served as an editor at the Guelph Daily Mercury. On January 12, 1910, he married Ida Randolph Spragge in York, Ontario, and the couple had two children, Molly (Mrs. Howard Haycraft) and Dora (Mrs. Henry Darlington Steinmetz).