When was the book of Kings written? Who wrote it? What was happening to the jewish people at that time?

The Talmud records that the book of Kings was composed by the prophet Jeremiah. While it is difficult to determine when exactly Jeremiah authored Kings, we do know he lived in the 7th and 6th century B.C.E, among the most tumultuous times in the history of the Jewish people. Jeremiah first began prophesizing during the reign of King Josiah, who ruled over the Kingdom of Judah from approximately 640 B.C.E. – 610 B.C.E. Jeremiah continued prophesizing through the reign of the last kings of Judah: Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin and during the eleven years of the reign of King Zedekiah, the last King of Judah, who was captured and blinded by the Babylonians. Jeremiah witnessed the destruction of the First Temple in 586 B.C.E. and in reaction composed the Book of Eichah which laments the tragedies which befell the Jewish people at the time of the destruction of the Temple.

Jeremiah, through his prophecies, attempted to warn the Jewish people of the impending doom which would befall them if they did not repent from their ways of idol worship and immorality. His pleas unfortunately fell mostly on deaf ears.