In 1863 slaves and conscript soldiers from Sudan landed in Mexico. What has happened? The
Egyptian Khedive has sent them on the request of Napoleon III to fight for the Habsburg Emperor
Maximilian against the Mexican republican troops of Benito Juarez of Zapotec origin. Although
the story of this military adventure is so multi-facetted and connects a mosaic of diverse
identities it is largely forgotten. Based on personal experience literary translations
interviews and the exploration of other repositories David E. Long and Sebastian Maisel bring
back the life-stories of those brave Sudanese men and their descendants and their ultimate
fight for freedom and independence.
