AMY KNIGHT s-a nascut in 1946 la Chicago. A absolvit cursurile Universitatii Michigan, iar in 1977 si-a luat doctoratul in politica ruseasca la London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). A predat la LSE, Scoala de Studii Internationale Avansate a Universitatii „Johns Hopkins”, Universitatea „George Washington” si Universitatea Carleton. A fost expert in probleme sovietice si rusesti la Biblioteca Congresului SUA. A scris pentru The New York Review of Books si The Times Literary Supplement peste 30 de articole despre politica si istoria Rusiei, colaborand de asemenea cu The New York Times si The Washington Post. In afara de Beria: Stalin’s First Lieutenant (1995), a scris, printre altele, The KGB: Police and Politics in the Soviet Union (1988), Who Killed Kirov? The Kremlin’s Greatest Mystery (2000), How the Cold War Began: The Igor Gouzenko Affair and the Hunt for Soviet Spies (2007) si Orders to Kill: The Putin Regime and Political Murder (2017).