Bruce Ware Allen was born in the greater New York Metropolitan Area and grew up there, in the Netherlands, and in Italy. The son of a navy veteran and shipping executive (and first cousin to naval historian Gardner Weld Allen), he has a dusty BA in Classics. In his working life, he has been a very small cog in book stores, law offices, insurance, big business, and even a factory. He is married to Blacknall Allen with whom he has a daughter. His work has been published in, among other places, Military History Quarterly, Military History, Treasures of Malta, and been turned down by some other very prestigious journals indeed.