Molloy professor releases book on WWI and New Mexico

Molloy business professor and part-time Rockville Centre resident Dr. Daniel Cillis released a new book earlier this April. Entitled “World War I New Mexico,” it tells the story of New Mexico’s involvement in the First World War. It is his third published book and his first non-fiction piece of commercial writing.

In 1917 — the year the United States entered World War I — New Mexico was one of the newest states in the union, and with tensions at a high point between Mexico and the United States, Germany was seeking to secure Mexico’s allegiance to the Central Powers. It is within this context that Dr. Cillis sets his new historical account.

Ultimately, more than 16,000 New Mexicans participated in the war, with various civic groups supporting the effort back home. The former University of New Mexico professor uses his in-depth historical knowledge of the state to weave an account of its involvement in the war. Although non-fiction, it builds upon his previous historical fiction novels, “Statehood of Affairs” and “Water Damage: A Tale of New Mexico, New York, and Dawning Terror in America.”