Harry Norman Turtledove (born June 14, 1949) is an American author who is best known for his work in the genres of alternate history, historical fiction, fantasy, science fiction, and mystery fiction. He is a student of history and completed his PhD in Byzantine history. His dissertation was on the period AD 565–582. He lives in Southern California. In addition to his birth name, Turtledove writes under a number of pen names: Eric Iverson, H. N. Turteltaub, Dan Chernenko, and Mark Gordian. He began publishing novels in the realm of fantasy starting in 1979 and continues to publish to the current day; his latest being Or Even Eagle Flew (2021) about Amelia Earhart and World War II. Early life Turtledove was born in Los Angeles, California, on June 14, 1949 and grew up in Gardena in Southern California. His paternal grandparents, who were Romanian Jews, had first emigrated to Winnipeg, Manitoba, before they moved to California in the United States. He was educated in local public schools during his early life. After dropping out during his freshman year at Caltech, Turtledove attended UCLA, where he completed his undergraduate degree and received a PhD in Byzantine history in 1977. His dissertation was 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). Career Turtledove published his first two novels, Wereblood and Werenight, in 1979 under the pseudonym "Eric G. Iverson". He later explained that his editor at Belmont Tower did not think that people would believe the author's real name was "Turtledove" and came up with something more Nordic. He continued to use "Iverson" until 1985. Another early pseudonym was "Mark Gordian". That year, he published Herbig-Haro and And So to Bed under his real name. Turtledove has recently begun publishing historical novels under the pseudonym "H. N. Turteltaub" (Turteltaube means turtle dove in German). He published three books as "Dan Chernenko" (the Scepter of Mercy series). He has written several works in collaboration, including The Two Georges with Richard Dreyfuss, "Death in Vesunna" with his first wife, Betty Turtledove (pen name: Elaine O'Byrne); Household Gods with Judith Tarr; and others with Susan Shwartz, S. M. Stirling, and Kevin R. Sandes. Turtledove won the Homer Award for Short Story in 1990 for "Designated Hitter",