The Last Emperor of Mexico tells the story of how Ferdinand Maximilian, a Habsburg archduke, once ruled Mexico in the mid-nineteenth century.

‘One of the most monstrous enterprises in the annals of international history,’ said Karl Marx. ‘ A madness without parallel since Don Quixote,’ said a future French president.

This is history’s judgement on the events surrounding the ill-fated reign of Ferdinand Maximilian, the young archduke who in 1864 crossed the Atlantic to assume a faraway throne.

The ensuing saga would feature the great world leaders of the day, popes, bandits and queens; intrigue, conspiracy and cut-throat statecraft, as Mexico became the pivotal battleground in the global balance of power, between Old Europe and the burgeoning force of the New World: American imperialism.

The Last Emperor of Mexico is the vivid history of this barely known, barely believable episode — a bloody tragedy of operatic proportions, and a vital debacle, the effects of which would be felt into the twentieth century and beyond.

Available from Faber & Faber in the UK and Basic Books in the US. 

Reviews:

‘The rise and fall of Maxmilian I, the doomed royal dupe, makes for a bleakly comic tale. Shawcross is especially good at describing the cultural gulf between the imperial couple and their subjects and their adopted realm.This is history as at once both tragedy and farce.’ ― The Times

‘Majestic . . . Shawcross’s vivid details turn the emperor into a character as ornate as the silk tapestries he imported. Such attention to the minutiae – including Maximilian’s hunt for rare larvae – makes his demise all the more heartrending.’ ― Spectator

‘Gripping…he’s an eloquent writer, good at showing both sides of an argument.’ ― Daily Mail

‘Entertaining.’ ― Telegraph

‘Shawcross’s account of Maximillian’s fall is both gripping and moving.’ ― The Oldie

‘Mr. Shawcross . . . creates a balanced and deeply human portrait of the emperor, [a] deeply researched narrative.’ ― Wall Street Journal

‘Enthralling.’ ― Literary Review

‘Splendid…baroque, page-turning & often grimly funny, it is the work of an author in complete control of his material.’ ― Tom Holland