Robert M. Poole is former executive editor of National Geographic and author of Explorers House, which was a holiday pick for Barnes & Noble's "Discover Great New Writers" series in 2004. He is a contributing editor at Smithsonian and a contract writer for National Geographic. Poole has been published in the New York Times, Washington Post, and Preservation.

Robert M. Poole is a writer and editor whose work for National Geographic, Smithsonian, and other magazines has taken him around the world. His last book, On Hallowed Ground, earned wide critical acclaim and was one of the Washington Post’s Best Books of 2009. Poole, former executive editor of National Geographic, lives in Vermont.