Edward Shawcross

French zouaves capture Puebla, 17 May 1863. Prints, Drawings and Watercolors from the Anne S.K. Brown Military Collection. Brown Digital Repository. Brown University Library. Public Domain.

‘Habsburgs on the Rio Grande’ by Raymond Jonas review

Habsburgs on the Rio Grande: The Rise and Fall of the Second Mexican Empire by Raymond Jonas reveals the cynicism and hubris behind Napoleon III’s Mexican misadventure.

The Execution of Emperor Maximilian, by Édouard Manet, 1868.

The Death of an Emperor

With the US riven by civil war, Napoleon III seized the opportunity to install an emperor in Mexico. Maximilian’s new regime soon fell apart in a catastrophic manner.