Steve Wiegand is an award-winning journalist and history writer. His 35-year journalism career was spent at the at the San Diego Evening Tribune, where he was chief political writer; San Francisco Chronicle, where he was state capitol bureau chief; and Sacramento Bee, where he was a special projects writer and politics columnist. He is the author, co-author or contributing author of nine books, includ-ing The Dancer, the Dreamers and the Queen of Romania; U.S. History for Dummies; the Mental Floss History of the World; The American Revolution for Dummies and Lessons from the Great Depression for Dummies. He lives in Arizona, where he enjoys playing poker and the harmonica, although usually not at the same time.