Lincoln and the emperors

"Abraham Lincoln fought two wars -- the one that we all know about, against the slave-holders of the South, and the other, revealed in detail for the first time in this absorbing book, his fight against Europe's emperors who were conspiring to establish their protectorate over North America. Napoleon III and his Empress, Eug?nie, were the prime movers in enlisting European support for intervention in favour of the Confederacy; a Confederate victory was to be the first step toward the breaking up of the United States and European domination of its component parts. They found a ready ally in the Emperor Francis Joseph. It was Francis Joseph's younger brother, Maximilian, who, carrying out one part of the grand design, overthrew the popular Mexican leader Juarez with the aid of French troops, was proclaimed Emperor of Mexico, and dreamed of a double empire of Mexico and Brazil. The elaborate, fantastic intrigues of the Emperors make fascinating reading. But what stands out in this book is the figure of Abraham Lincoln, the humorous, relentless realist, and the unyielding opponent of European influence in the Americas. His determination was the rock on which all the plots of the Emperors broke; and the victory of the Union forces not only put an end to royalist adventures in America but was a link in the chain of events that led to the decay of empires everywhere. Based on hundreds of previously unknown documents, Lincoln and the emperors illuminates an unexplored aspect of the relations between Europe and America"--Dust jacket.