A. W. Kinglake was an English travel writer and historian best known for Eothen, his lively account of a journey through the eastern Mediterranean and Egypt. Combining personal observation, humor, and a strong narrative voice, the book presents travel as an encounter with unfamiliar places rather than a catalogue of monuments and routes.

Born near Taunton in Somerset, Alexander William Kinglake attended Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge, before training as a barrister. His travels through Syria, Palestine, and Egypt provided the material for Eothen, published in 1844. Its vivid impressions won an enduring readership, although its outlook also reflects the assumptions of a nineteenth-century British traveler.

Kinglake later devoted many years to The Invasion of the Crimea, an extensive history published in eight volumes. The work drew attention both for its detailed narrative and for the author's strong judgments about military and political leaders. He also served as a member of Parliament for Bridgwater, bringing a public career alongside his work in travel writing and history.