Dimensions
155 x 236 x 26mm
How a Nineteenth-Century Irish Courtesan Became the Most Powerful Woman in Paraguay.
In 1854, an ambitious Irish courtesan met a South American general in Paris and returned with him to Paraguay. When he became President, she became his de facto first lady and together they changed the course of the country's history.
Consumed by desire for Napoleonic glory, General President Lopez took Paraguay into a disastrous war against her neighbours. Elisa Lynch went with him on campaign, turning conditions of war to her advantage where she could. He was killed in the northern hills but she survived, only to be expelled from Paraguay and to die an obscure death in Paris in 1886.
Reviled and respected, loved and distrusted, Elisa Lynch has been described as both a heroic companion to Lopez and a malign enchantress. In 'The Shadows of Elisa Lynch', Sian Rees tells a fascinating story of recovered history.
