John Aberth was born in New York City and grew up in Yonkers, N.Y., and (during the summer) in Roxbury, VT. He attended Hamilton College in New York for his B.A. in Creative Writing and also did a junior year abroad at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, where he studied Medieval History. He received his M.A. in Medieval Studies from the University of Leeds in England and his Ph.D. in Medieval History from the University of Cambridge, England. He has taught full-time at Norwich University in Vermont, Skidmore College in New York, and at the University of Nebraska-Omaha, and part-time at various colleges in Vermont, including Middlebury College, the University of Vermont, St. Michael's College, Castleton State College, and Champlain College. He is the author of seven books on Medieval History, mostly focusing on the Black Death of the late Middle Ages. He lives in Roxbury, VT with his wife, Laura, two cats, and six horses.