Rudyard Kipling

Rudyard Kipling is the author of "The Jungle Book," among other tales of the Indian subcontinent.

Published in 1894, "The Jungle Book" was a collection of fictional stories about the wilds of India, many of them featuring Mowgli, a feral boy raised by wolves. "The Second Jungle Book" followed in 1895, which was the basis for the immensely popular and endearing 1967 Walt Disney animated film.

The author was born in 1865 in Bombay, India. His father was a director of an art museum and his mother was a socialite. At age 5, he was sent home to England and immersed himself in art, philosophy and literature. But he felt neglected and isolated in the shoddy care of a family who boarded the children of British nationals serving in India. Soon, writing became his refuge and Kipling began to compose short stories.

In 1882, Kipling returned to India and took up journalism, publishing stories and poems. He became increasingly popular, and his work often revealed the complex and problematic nature of British imperialism.

Kipling traveled widely and wrote prolifically. After penning hundreds of essays, poems and stories, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1907 and continued to write, nearly up to his death at age 70 in 1936. Kipling's autobiography, "Something Of Myself: And Other Autobiographical Writings," was published posthumously in 1937.

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