A. J. (Alec John) Dawson

Born in 1872, A. J. Dawson — Alec John Dawson — was an English author, traveller, journalist, and novelist who wrote under several names, including Major Dawson, Howard Kerr, and Nicholas Freydon. Reference sources consistently identify him as a prolific writer, with more than thirty books to his name.

His work covered more than one lane. Alongside fiction, he published travel writing and became especially well known for animal adventure stories, with Finn the Wolfhound often singled out as the book most remembered now. During the First World War, he reached the rank of Major and was reported to have received both the MBE and the Croix de Guerre for his propaganda work.

There is some disagreement in the sources about his death year: some list 1951, while library and authority records connected with his books list 1952. Since your edition identifies him as 1872–1952, that is the dating followed here.