The Last Emperor of Mexico: A Disaster in the New World

A young Austrian archduke named Maximilian traveled to a distant throne in 1864 under the enticement of Napoleon III, but he encountered a bloody guerrilla war instead of a hero's welcome. This is the story of his tragic fate, a bloody tragedy of operatic proportions that had repercussions into the twentieth century.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 336 pages
Publication date: 05 January 2023
Publisher: Faber & Faber

Hilarious, heart-breaking and utterly extraordinary.
Dominic Sandbrook, Sunday Times
Books of the Year.


Superbly entertaining.
Financial Times
Jaw-dropping.
Sunday Times
Fascinating.
Guardian
Gripping.
The Times
Terrific . . . A page-turning history of imperial hubris and nemesis, deceit and delusion, love and betrayal on a grand scale.
Sunday Times
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.


This is the vivid history of this barely known, barely believable episode - a bloody tragedy of operatic proportions, the effects of which would be felt into the twentieth century and beyond.

Weight: 286g
Dimension: 129 x 197 x 30 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780571360581
Edition number: Main