The Empress of South America by Nigel Cawthorne
Born in Ireland in the 1840's, Eliza Lynch left the country as a young girl, fleeing the potato famine with her parents. As a young woman, she became one of Paris most celebrated courtesans, until she was persuaded by the son of the dictator of Paraguay, to leave Paris for South America, where he promised he would make her Empress of the entire continent. Back in Asuncion, they embarked on a programme of extravagant building (the grandiose buildings they commissioned included a replica of the Palais Garnier), acquisition (Eliza's collection of jewellery was legendary), hospitality (Eliza was known to attend balls dressed as Elizabeth I, highly impractical, given the weather) and, finally, war. Paraguay declared war on a coalition that included not only all the other states in S American, but also the USA, France and Britain. By the time their reign was over, Paraguay's population had been devastated. Eliza died in poverty in Paris. Buried in Pere Lachaise, her corpse was dead up by dead of night in 1961, and smuggled back to Paraguay, where General Stroessner planned, despite the condemnation of the Church, to make her the centre of an Evita-style cult. Her body lies there to this day.Nigel Cawthorne studied at University College, London, where he gained an Honours degree in Physics, before turning to writing as a career. He has been a writer and editor for over 25 years, the last 21 freelance. He has written, contributed to and edited more than sixty books, including Fighting Them On The Beaches: D-Day, 6 June 1944, The Battle of Britain, Vietnam: A War Lost and Won, Stalin, and The Story of the SS. His work has also appeared in over a hundred and fifty newspapers, magazines and partworks on both sides of the Atlantic - from the Sun to the Financial Times, and includes contributions to Nam, Eyewitness Nam and The Falklands War. Nigel also visited Vietnam with the legendary Tim Page, where he researched the material for Nam, Eyewitness Nam, and The Bamboo Cage. He is also the creator of websites on the Battle of Hastings, and Pearl Harbor.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780434008988 |
| ISBN 10 | 0434008982 |
| Title | The Empress of South America |
| Author | Nigel Cawthorne |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Hardback |
| Publisher | Cornerstone |
| Year published | 2003-01-02 |
| Number of pages | 320 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |