SAMUEL W. MITCHAM JR. is a military historian who has written extensively on the German army in the Second World War, including his major biography of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, Desert Fox. A U.S. Army helicopter pilot in the Vietnam War and a graduate of the Command and General Staff College, he remained active in the reserves, qualifying through the rank of major general. A former visiting professor at the U.S. Military Academy, West Point, he has appeared on the History Channel, CBS, NPR, and the BBC. He lives with his family in Monroe, Louisiana.