
The Last Emperor of Mexico
The Last Emperor of Mexico: A Disaster in the New World by Edward Shawcross is the vivid history of a barely known, barely believable episode – a bloody tragedy of operatic proportions, the effects of which would be felt into the twentieth century and beyond.
In 1864, a young Austrian archduke by the name of Maximilian crossed the Atlantic to assume a faraway throne. He had been lured into the voyage by a duplicitous Napoleon III. Keen to spread his own interests abroad, the French emperor had promised Maximilian a hero’s welcome. Instead, he walked into a bloody guerrilla war. With a head full of impractical ideals – and a penchant for pomp and butterflies – the new ’emperor’ was singularly ill-equipped for what lay in store.
The History Hit Book Club is a global online community who are passionate about history. Delve into the best of historical writing, explore new aspects of the past and even change the way you see the world. Below we’ve collected articles and podcasts to complement our current read.
Terrific…A page-turning history of imperial hubris and nemesis, deceit and delusion, love and betrayal on a grand scale.
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