The author of more than sixteen novels and seventeen biographies, Doris Leslie was the darling of book-club readers--six of her books were popular choices of Britain's National Book Club--and she had a considerable following among those who liked to get a little historical knowledge while being entertained by diverting stories. She was once cited in a journalism poll as the second-most-famous historical novelist, and her As the Tree Falls was ranked by Books and Bookmen as the best historical novel of 1958.

Doris Oppenheim was born in London around the turn of the twentieth century--she was always reticent about her age and her early life. Educated privately in London and Brussels, she at first thought that she might become a painter and studied art in London. At fifteen she decided she wanted to become an actress; her father was opposed to the idea, but without his knowledge she obtained...