The splendid translation by Mexican novelist and poet Agustín Cadena of my novel The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire (Unbridled Books), as El último príncipe del Imperio Mexicano (Grijalbo Random House Mondadori), will be presented this Thursday, May 26 at 7 pm in Mexico's National Palace, as part of SHCP's (Mexican Ministry of Finance's) excellent series of cultural events. (For those of you in Mexico City, check out their amazing monthly schedule of concerts, performances, and book presentations.)
The presenters will be Dr. Javier Garciadiego as moderator, Carlos González Manterola (editor of the prestigious 20/10 series), historian Eduardo Turrent, and historical novelist Carlos Pascual. I'l also give a brief talk, and there will be Q & A. Todito en español.I'll be posting the podcast of this event next week, and in the meantime, there is information about the book, including a reader's guide, reviews, photos, and more at the book's webpage in Spanish and in English.
Yes, it is based on the true story. The last prince of the Mexican Empire was Agustín de Iturbide y Green (1863 - 1925), the half-American grandson of Mexico's first Emperor, Agustín de Iturbide. The book has several years of original archival reseach behind it, and I talk about the research and the many sources, and also why I wrote it as a novel, in the reader's guide. You can listen to my talk in the Library of Congress (which has the ex-Emperor Agustín de Iturbide and Iturbide Family archives) here.
And yes, that is his picture on the cover of the book. It is circa 1865 when he was two and half years old. The original photograph is in the archives in Chapultepec Castle, Mexico City. He was dressed as was the custom for little boys at that time.
