Book of the week: The Last Emperor of Mexico by Edward Shawcross

Although Maximilian’s reign proved short-lived, it makes for a ‘jaw-dropping story’

Maximilian, Emperor of Mexico from 1832-1867
Maximilian, Emperor of Mexico from 1832-1867
(Image credit: Getty Images)

In the early 1860s, the “puffed-up” French emperor Napoleon III conceived what he believed to be “a brilliant wheeze”, said Justin Marozzi in The Sunday Times. He would command his troops to invade Mexico, and install a puppet emperor on the throne. France would thereby gain a “Latin American empire on the cheap”, providing “untold opportunities for French business”.

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