Growing up in the remains of what was once a resort town on the New Jersey coast, Dominic Etzold has had a lifelong interest in history and the sea. He graduated from Drexel University with a degree in History and Politics, earning the A. William Salomone Prize and Best Seminar Paper along the way. Despite the urging of his professors to continue on to graduate school, he instead entered the workforce and regretted the decision ever since.

Deciding to make use of his degree and love for history, Etzold began writing his first book, Reaping the Whirlwind: The U-Boat War off North America During WWI (Schiffer Military History. 2023), in the fall of 2020 and rediscovered his calling in the process. His next book, this time about airships, will be released by Schiffer Military History sometime in 2025/2026. He is currently in the process of researching a third book, also about World War I.