Benito Juarez (1806--72), Indian-born (Zapotec) founding father of modern Mexico, championed a newly independent, largely non-white nation at a time of aggressive European supremacy. His brand of liberalism broke with the Indian and Hispanic pasts, curbed the power of church and army, and promoted federalism and civil supremacy. He outmanoeuvred the conservatives in a bitter civil war (1858--61), and, as President, frustrated Napoleon III's imperial ambitions by defeating -- and executing -- his Habsburg puppet, the unfortunate emperor Maximilian. This is a major study of an extraordinary career, with resonances far beyond Mexico itself.