American writer L. Sprague de Camp (1907 to 2000) wrote science fiction, fantasy and nonfiction over a career of 60 years, and he was a major figure in the genre during the 1930s and 1940s. Among his books is Lest Darkness Fall, in which a modern historian finds himself in Rome as the Western Empire nears collapse and tries to use his knowledge to change what comes next. He also worked with Fletcher Pratt on The Incomplete Enchanter, and he wrote biographies of other fantasy authors.
