Michael B. Young received his Ph.D. from Harvard University. He is the author of two other books and numerous articles about politics in the reigns of James I and Charles I with special attention to Parliament. He is a Professor of History at Illinois Wesleyan University where he has been recognized for his outstanding teaching of courses on early modern Europe and Tudor-Stuart England. He also teaches a course based on the present book entitled 'Sex, Gender, and Power under King James'. In 2013 he was appointed to the Robert W. Harrington endowed professorship at his university.