James Robinson is the David Florence Professor of Government at Harvard University. He is the co-author, with Daron Acemoglu, of the book Economic Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy, published by Cambridge University Press in 2006, which was awarded the 2007 Woodrow Wilson Foundation Award by the American Political Science Association for 'the best book published in the United States during the prior year on government, politics, or international affairs'. He edited the book Natural Experiments in History with the geographer and ecologist Jared Diamond in 2010. His most recent book, also written with Daron Acemoglu, is entitled Why Nations Fail and was declared one of the ten best books of 2012 by the Washington Post and is already being translated into 23 languages, including Arabic and Mongolian. His main research interests are in political economy, comparative economic development, and economic history with a focus on sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America.

Mike Perkins is an illustrator for Marvel Comics who has worked on Captain America, Thor and The X-Men. After wrapping up a thirty-one-issue adaptation of Stephen King's The Stand he transitioned into illustrating Astonishing X-Men and has now re-launched Deathlok. He has been nominated numerous times for Eisner and Harvey Awards, and has won the Eagle Award. He counts being on the New York Times Bestseller list and being exhibited in Munich, London and Paris amongst his career achievements.