Tad Tuleja is a folklorist, songwriter, and former college writing instructor. His thirty books include American History in 100 Nutshells: From "The Mayflower Compact" to "A Kinder and Gentler Nation" and Curious Customs: The Stories Behind 296 Popular American Rituals. He is the editor of Usable Pasts: Traditions and Group Expressions in North America, Different Drummers: Military Culture and Its Discontents, and, with Eric Eliason, of Warrior Ways: Explorations in Modern Military Folklore.