In the mid-19th century, Mexico was in crisis; using the pretext that the country was not paying off its debt to European powers, Napoleon III decided to invade and annex it. But under Benito Juarez, the Mexican government and the people, who had suffered for centuries as a European colony, surprised Napoleon and fought back. On the fifth of May, in a decisive battle, they routed the French. Today, that day is celebrated as the enduring symbol of Mexican independence and pride. Cinco de Mayo uses a contemporary reenactment in the village of San Miguel Tlaixpán as the focal point for its vivid description of that day. Photographs of this event are combined with original archival lithographs from the period to bring the battle and its setting to vivid life, along with the exciting celebrations that followed. The text is drawn from newspaper accounts from the era and the dispatches of the brave Mexican generals who refused to turn over their country to the invaders.