Robert Matzen

Robert Matzen is an American author who specializes in Hollywood history and World War II, combining meticulous research with spellbinding narrative. Robert's tenth book is also his debut novel. "Season of the Gods" draws upon his in-depth knowledge of Warner Bros. studio, expertise in World War II, and background in film production to tell the spellbinding story of Warner Bros. Story Editor Irene Lee's quest to bring the wartime masterpiece "Casablanca" to the screen. His previous nonfiction books include "Warrior: Audrey Hepburn" and the international bestseller "Dutch Girl: Audrey Hepburn in World War II," both written in collaboration with Hepburn's son Luca Dotti. Prior to that, Matzen wrote "Mission: Jimmy Stewart and the Fight for Europe" and "Fireball: Carole Lombard and the Mystery of Flight 3," both of which leveraged his 10 years working for NASA Headquarters in aeronautics. "Mission" continues to earn national media interest, and "Fireball" earned praise from the Smithsonian, and won the 2015 Benjamin Franklin Award for Biography.

With every book, Matzen gets personal with history. For "Season of the Gods" he explored the Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank. For "Dutch Girl" he spent months in the Netherlands talking to the people who lived through the war with Audrey Hepburn. For "Mission" he flew in B-17 and B-24 bombers and walked the muddy fields of Jimmy Stewart's base at Tibenham, England. And for "Fireball," he famously climbed a mountain--Mount Potosi, Nevada--to explore the wreckage of TWA Flight 3.