Harry Turtledove | |
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![]() Turtledove at the 2005 Worldcon
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Born |
Los Angeles, California, United States |
June 14, 1949
Pen name | Dan Chernenko, Eric G. Iverson, Mark Gordian, H.N. Turteltaub |
Occupation | Novelist, short story author, essayist, historian |
Alma mater |
California Institute of Technology (dropped out) University of California, Los Angeles |
Genre | Science fiction, fantasy, alternate history, historical fiction, history |
Notable works |
Southern Victory Worldwar Crosstime Traffic The Guns of the South The Two Georges |
Website | |
www |
Harry Norman Turtledove (born June 14, 1949) is an American novelist, best known for his work in the genres of alternate history, historical fiction, fantasy, and science fiction.
Turtledove was born in Los Angeles, California on June 14, 1949, and grew up in Gardena, California. His paternal grandparents, who were Romanian Jews, had first emigrated to Winnipeg, Manitoba, before moving to the U.S. and California. He was educated in local public schools in early life.
After dropping out during his freshman year at Caltech, Turtledove attended UCLA, completing his undergraduate degree and receiving a Ph.D. in Byzantine history in 1977. His dissertation was titled The Immediate Successors of Justinian: A Study of the Persian Problem and of Continuity and Change in Internal Secular Affairs in the Later Roman Empire During the Reigns of Justin II and Tiberius II Constantine (AD 565–582).
In 1979, Turtledove published his first two novels, Wereblood and Werenight, under the pseudonym "Eric G. Iverson." Turtledove later explained that his editor at Belmont Tower did not think people would believe the author's real name was "Turtledove" and came up with something more Nordic. He continued to use the "Iverson" name until 1985. Another early pseudonym was "Mark Gordian."