France and the American Civil War : a diplomatic history / Stève Sainlaude ; translated by Jessica Edwards ; foreword by Don H. Doyle.

Online resource; title from PDF title page (EBSCO, viewed February 6, 2019).

Includes bibliographical references and index.

The French position -- The implementation of neutrality -- The emperor gets involved in the war -- The Entente Cordiale and American policy -- France's view of the South -- Myth and reality -- The weight of the "peculiar institution" in diplomatic relations -- Napoleon III's "grand design" and the Confederacy -- The future lies in union -- The future of the disunited states -- The South, a trade partner? -- The imbalance of power.

France's involvement in the American Civil War was critical to its unfolding, but the details of the European power's role remain little understood. Here, Stève Sainlaude offers the first comprehensive history of French diplomatic engagement with the Union and the Confederate States of America during the conflict. Drawing on archival sources that have been neglected by scholars up to this point, Sainlaude overturns many commonly held assumptions about French relations with the Union and the Confederacy. As Sainlaude demonstrates, no major European power had a deeper stake in the outcome of the conflict than France.

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