On this episode of th Modern Mexico Podcast host Nathaniel Parish Flannery talks to historian Edward Shawcross about his new book, THE LAST EMPEROR OF MEXICO. Shawcross's book tells the story of an ambitious and somewhat delusional Austrian archduke named Maximilian von Hapsburg who set sail for Mexico with plans to invade and install himself as an enlightened despot in the mid 1860s. The history of Maximilian, an ambitious but flawed leader who had progressive ideals but embraced authoritarian tactics, can help us understand contemporary politics in Mexico. Shawcross discusses the similarities and differences between Maximilian and Mexico's current president, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

Shawcross explains, “From my point of view it seems [Lopez Obrador] is tending towards populism and authoritarianism more than the kind of democracy that was envisioned in the 1850s and 1860s, this radical tradition of Mexican liberalism that is on the side of the people [and was] trying to create durable institutions.”