Thomas Mayne Reid (4 April 1818 - 22 October 1883) was an Irish-American novelist, who fought in the Mexican-American War (1846-1848). His many works on American life describe colonial policy in the American colonies, the horrors of slave labour and the lives of American Indians. "Captain" Reid wrote adventure novels akin to those by Frederick Marryat and Robert Louis Stevenson, and set mainly in the American West, Mexico, South Africa, the Himalayas, and Jamaica. He was an admirer of Lord Byron. Books such as the Young Voyagers had great popularity, especially with boys. His tales of the American West were also popular with children across Europe and Russia.