W. Cleon Skousen, the second of nine children, was born in Raymond, Alberta, Canada, in 1913. He moved to California with his parents at the age of ten.

He began a careful study of the scriptures at the age of 17 when he was called on a mission to England, and had a well-known scriptural scholar, Dr. John A. Widtsoe, as his first mentor.

He subsequently graduated from George Washington University with a Juris Doctorate degree. After law school, he spent sixteen years with the FBI, four years as chief of police in Salt Lake City, and then served for ten years as a full professor at Brigham Young University in the Department of Religion.

He has written more than a dozen books on scriptural subjects and considerably more on various secular themes.

He has conducted many tours to the Holy Land and has lectured in 45 different countries.

He and his wife Jewel have eight children and fifty grandchildren.