Hector Hugo Munro, better known by his pen name Saki, was born in Burma in 1870. He came to England for schooling following the early death of his mother, and was raised by his grandmother. After much travelling he followed in his father's footsteps and worked for the Indian Imperial Police in Burma, before falling ill and returning to England to pursue a career in journalism. He published his first book, The Rise of the Russian Empire, in 1900. Throughout his writing career he worked as a foreign correspondent and fought in World War I, during which he was killed by a sniper in 1916. He is considered a master of the short story form.