Richard Slotkin is a lead­ing schol­ar of Amer­i­can cul­tur­al his­to­ry and author of ten books his­tor­i­cal fic­tion and non­fic­tion, includ­ing two Nation­al Book Award final­ists. Abe won the Michael Shaara Prize for Civ­il War Fic­tion and the Salon​.com Book Award; The Crater was the first nov­el select­ed by the His­to­ry Book Club. Both nov­els were Times Notable Books of the Year.