Rodney P. Carlisle holds a B.A. in history from Harvard University and both an M.A. and a Ph.D. in history from the University of California, Berkeley. He is a former chair of the history department at Rutgers University, Camden, where he taught for more than 30 years, specializing in 20th-century history. Carlisle is now professor emeritus there. He has written many articles, as well as more than 10 books on history, including Facts On File's World War I in the Eyewitness History series.