Bruce Westrate teaches history at a prep school in Dallas, Texas, but was born and raised in rural southwest lower Michigan. He holds three degrees in History from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor and is the author of the very well-received The Arab Bureau (Penn State Press, 1992), which is still in print. Altar of Ashes is his debut novel, which builds on his unique expertise with the banned ritual known as Sati.

In addition to authoring book reviews and a column for the National Review, Bruce contributed a chapter on the subject at the center of this novel to Rediscovering the British Empire (Krieger, 2002), titled Acknowledged Truths: Lord Bentinck and the Abolition of Sati.

Bruce lives in Dallas with Sally, his wife of more than four decades.