Harold Lamb

Harold Albert Lamb (September 1, 1892–April 9, 1962) was an American historian, novelist, writer, and screenwriter. Born in Alpine, New Jersey, he studied at Columbia University and developed a lifelong interest in the cultures and history of Asia and the Middle East. He received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1929.

Lamb began publishing short stories in the 1910s, and his adventure fiction appeared regularly in Adventure magazine from 1917 to 1936. His historical novels and biographies focused on figures such as Genghis Khan, Tamerlane, Alexander of Macedon, Suleiman the Magnificent, and Charlemagne, combining energetic storytelling with extensive research.

He later worked in Hollywood, contributing to films such as Cecil B. DeMille’s The Crusades (1935), The Plainsman (1936), and Samson and Delilah (1949). He died in Rochester, Minnesota, in 1962.