Charles King is the author of seven books, including the New York Times-bestselling GODS OF THE UPPER AIR (2019), winner of the Francis Parkman Prize and the Anisfield-Wolf Award, and finalist for the National Book Critics Circle award in biography and the Los Angeles Times history prize; MIDNIGHT AT THE PERA PALACE (2014), a New York Times Editors' Choice; and ODESSA: GENIUS AND DEATH IN A CITY OF DREAMS (2011), winner of a National Jewish Book Award. He lectures widely on global affairs and has worked with broadcast media including NPR, MSNBC, and the BBC. A native of the Ozark hill country, King studied history and politics at the University of Arkansas and Oxford University, where he was a British Marshall Scholar. He is Professor of International Affairs and Government at Georgetown University, where he previously served as chair of the Department of Government and faculty chair of the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service.