James S. Olson is a Distinguished Professor of History at Sam Houston State University. He is a historian of recent U.S. history as well as popular culture. He also has a special interest in Vietnam and has edited the Dictionary of the Vietnam War (1988) and written The Vietnam War: Handbook of the Literature and Research (1993) and with Randy Roberts, Where the Domino Fell: America and Vietnam, Second Edition (1996). Olson is the author of many other books and articles, including The Ethnic Dimension in American History, Second Edition (1995); Saving Capitalism (1988); and with Randy Roberts, John Wayne: American (1995).

Randy Roberts is Distinguished Professor of History at Purdue University. His primary research areas are sports and popular culture within the larger context of recent American history. He is an award-winning biographer and is highly visible in the field of post-1945 American history. Among his more important books are Heavy Justice: The State of Indiana v. Michael G. Tyson (1994); Jack Dempsey: The Manassa Mauler (1979); Papa Jack: Jack Johnson and the Era of White Hopes (1983); "But They Can't Beat Us" Oscar Robertson and the Crispus Attucks Tigers (1999); and Joe Louis: Hard Times Man (2010); and with James S. Olson, John Wayne American (1995); A Line in the Sand: The Alamo in Blood and Memory (2000); Winning Is the Only Thing: Sports in America Since 1945 (1989); and Where the Domino Fell: America and Vietnam, 1945-1990 (1989). Roberts has served frequently as a consultant for PBS News, HBO, and the History Channel.