David I.Kertzer was born in New York City in 1948. Paul Dupee, Jr. University Professor of Social Science at Brown University, is also a professor of anthropology and Italian studies. He is the author of Edgardo Mortara's Kidnapping, which was a National Book Award finalist. His book The Popes Versus the Jews was a finalist for the Mark Lynton History Award, and he received the Marraro Prize from the Society for Italian Historical Studies twice, in 1985 and 1990, for the greatest work on Italian history. His wife, Susan, and he live in Providence.