English historian Alexander Kinglake was born in Wilton House, near Taunton and was educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge. A tour of the Far East in 1840 resulted in the publication of Eothen (1844). Eothen is a Greek word meaning "from the early dawn" or "from the East." It consists of letters that Kinglake wrote home while making his extensive tour. He became the historian of the Crimea in 1863, writing the History of the War in the Crimea (1863-87), considered one of the finest historical works of the nineteenth century.