Edward Shawcross

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....

Born into imperial splendour, Louis-Napoleon - the nephew of Napoleon Bonaparte - grew up far from power after the defeat at Waterloo. In exile, he repeatedly plotted, unsuccessfully, to restore his uncle's empire. Few took him seriously. But what followed is one of the most astonishing, impossible stories in history. Aged 40, Louis-Napoleon would be elected president of France. Three...