Review: Shawcross's "The Last Emperor of Mexico" on Maximilian of Habsburg

Edward Shawcross's book "The Last Emperor of Mexico: The Habsburg Kingdom in the New World" describes the story of Archduke Maximilian of Habsburg, who accepted the Mexican crown in a country torn by civil war and dreamed of a liberal monarchy. The project ended in failure—Maximilian faced a firing squad. The review assesses how the author succeeded in presenting this dramatic and doomed nineteenth-century political venture.