"Napoleon III's motives for intervening in Mexico have been the subject of suspicion and conjecture. The most prevalent conclusions have been that he wanted to pose a Latin-Catholic bloc against expansion by the United States, or that he was seeking economic advantage for France. While each of these contains an element of truth, Napoleon III's policy was more far-sighted than this.

That policy - developed from the writings of his youth, and revealed in his speeches and his proposals for a European congress, as well as in his instructions to his commanders - was that free trade, and the sharing of ideas and civilisation among nations, was the best foundation for ensuring peace.".

"If successful, the Mexican campaign would have provided the opportunity to see that policy expanded to embrace the world. However, the Emperor's plans were jeopardised by the actions of his own representatives and the suspicions of his neighbours. This book examines the roles played by those representatives, and by the Emperor Maximilian, which contributed to the failure of the expedition, and discusses the basis of the misunderstandings between Napoleon III and his fellow sovereigns.

It also considers whether Napoleon III should be simply condemned because his campaign was unsuccessful, or given due credit for a humanitarian ideal which pre-empted those of later figures such as Woodrow Wilson."--BOOK JACKET.