A Lurid Grandeur: Maximilian & Carlota of Mexico

Why would someone surrender a life of almost unimaginable privilege for a crown in a hostile land he or she had never seen? He was a brother of the Emperor of Austria, obsessed with travel, art, and court etiquette. She was the daughter of a Belgian king, ambitious, earnest, and accustomed to great wealth. Together Maximilian and Charlotte were the quintessential nineteenth century power couple—young, connected, and convinced they were destined to rule a tropical paradise. It was a vision made real by intrigue, high finance, and public relations; a vision which would lure them to death and madness in a country they never really understood. Their downfall electrified a world which had witnessed their regal departure from Europe only three years earlier. Some saw them as innocents manipulated into undertaking an impossible task, others as reformers whose good intentions were overwhelmed by the chaos of a civil war. In reality Charlotte and Maximilian were more complex—and much more human—than these platitudes would allow them to be. A Lurid Grandeur draws from period accounts to reveal the passions and contradictions at the heart of the ill-starred venture known as the Mexican Empire. It is a sometimes strange but always fascinating journey to the limits of myth, power, and self-deception.