M. M. McAllen

Mary Margaret McAllen’s latest book Maximilian and Carlota: Europe’s Last Empire in Mexico has received critically acclaimed reviews from Publishers Weekly, Foreword Magazine, and Alcalde Magazine. While this book contains newly-mined information on the Second Empire of Mexico, Alcalde Magazine says: “World history is most engrossing when read not as a litany of dates, battles, and lineages, but as a drama of real people living messy, interesting lives, and McAllen does just that in Maximilian and Carlota. Maximilian von Habsburg and his wife, Carlota, were installed as the emperor and empress of Mexico 150 years ago, and their surprising story has rarely been told until now.” It is available in print and eBook versions.

Her first book began with research conducted by her grandmother, Margaret H. McAllen, and her father, James A. McAllen, which culminated in rave reviews for the 655-page work, I Would Rather Sleep in Texas. Noted historian and Texas A&M professor, Jerry Thompson, said it was the best-researched book he has ever seen from a first-time writer of history. I Would Rather Sleep in Texas won the San Antonio Conservation Society Publication Award and was a featured title at the 2003 Texas Book Festival.

Her second book, A Brave Boy and A Good Soldier: John C. C. Hill and the Texas Expedition to Mier tells the 1842 biography of a young Texan captured in battle and later adopted by Antonio López de Santa Anna, president of Mexico. For school age readers and adults alike, John C. C. Hill's story remains one of the most fascinating to result from Texas' struggle for independence.

She has appeared on the hit PBS series “History Detectives,” in an episode about the origins of the Chisholm Trail and has contributed to Henry Lewis Gates’ series on the origins famous citizens entitled, “Faces of America.” McAllen has written numerous articles for magazines, journals, provided introductions, and contributed to anthologies. She lives in San Antonio, Texas.

• Western Writers of America, Active Member
  
• Board member, Texas A & M University Press
• Texas State Historical Association, Past President
  Witte Museum, Director of Humanities
  Former Adjunct Professor at University of Texas at San Antonio
• Texas Institute of Letters, New Inductee
• 
  Books in the works: Commander and Crew