Walter Scott

Born in Edinburgh in 1771, Sir Walter Scott became one of the most popular writers of his age. Britannica describes him as a Scottish novelist, poet, historian, and biographer, and credits him as both the inventor and greatest practitioner of the historical novel. His best-known books include Waverley, Rob Roy, and Ivanhoe.

Scott first found major success as a poet before his fiction made him an international literary figure. Wikipedia notes that many of his works became lasting classics of Scottish and European literature, and his stories drew strongly on Scottish history, legend, and border traditions.

He died in 1832 at Abbotsford in the Scottish Borders. Scott's influence reached far beyond his own century: he helped make historical fiction a major form, and his novels continued to shape popular ideas of heroism, nation, and the romance of the past.