Harold Frederic (1856-1898), also known as George Forth, was an Anglo-American journalist and novelist. He was born in Utica, New York, was educated there, and took up journalism. He went to live in England as London correspondent of the New York Times in 1884 and was soon recognized for his ability both as a writer and as a talker. He wrote several early stories, but it was not until he published Illumination (1896), better known by its American title, The Damnation of Theron Ware, followed by Gloria Mundi (1898), that his remarkable gifts as a novelist were fully realized. Jonathan Yardley called Damnation "a minor classic of realism". His other works include Seth's Brother's Wife (1887), The Lawton Girl (1890), In the Valley (1890), The Return of the O'Mahony (1892), The Copperhead (1893), Marsena (1894), March Hares (1896), Mrs Albert Grundy (1896) and The Market-Place (1899).