Alan Axelrod Alan Axelrod has a Ph.D. in English and is the author of numerous books including The Penguin Dictionary of American Folklore, The Macmillan Dictionary of Military Biography, Encyclopedia of the American West, and What Every American Should Know bout American History. Previously, he served as publishing executive with the Henry Francis Winterthur Museum, Van Nostrand Reinhold, Abbeville Press, and Turner Publishing. Read More Read Less