Raymond Anthony Jonas

I am a free-range historian of the long nineteenth century (1789-1918). My work explores episodes and themes that connect Europe, Africa, and the Americas. My most recent book, Habsburgs on the Rio Grande: The Rise and Fall of the Second Mexican Empire (Harvard) shows how European and Mexican fears of American empire culminated in an attempt to establish a European monarchy on Mexican soil. The Battle of Adwa: African Victory in the Age of Empire (Harvard) tells the unique story of successful African resistance to colonization. The book narrates this signal event in global history and follows the Adwa story as it rolls through African and European diasporic communities. Also: France and the Cult of the Sacred Heart: an Epic Tale for Modern Times (California) focuses on the basilica of Sacré-Coeur, on Montmartre, in Paris. It situates the basilica within a fierce struggle between advocates of a Christian national ideal and defenders of a pluralist vision of the nation.