Jake Leigh-Howarth (Introduction) is a freelance history writer. He holds an MA in Modern History from the University of Leeds where he focused on the accounts of Western travellers to Soviet Central Asia and Eastern Siberia. Devoted to making history more accessible to the general public and a regular contributor to Ancient Origins.net, he has penned numerous articles online and in print on everything from the history of Japan and Greece to the Second World War. He also writes scripts for some of the most popular history YouTube channels such as Simple History, where his videos have millions of views.