I never quite got the glorification of Napoleon. He brought nothing but misery to Europe. Because of him, there are French cemeteries in places like Russia and Egypt. And to what end? What was accomplished?
As I see it, Napoleon was just an early version of Hitler (minus the concentration camps).
You could say the same thing about Alexander the Great, Gengis whatsisname, Caesar, many many others.
There’s always been a bit of a fascination with conquerors, successful or not, and especially if they represent an idealized image of your nation’s past.
Due to our local high schools efforts to indoctrinate me, I missed out on the year of Euro history, so I’m a bit weak on the French Revolution, etc., but I think that Mr. Napolean is highly regarded not just for his conquests, but also for bringing France out of the nightmares of the revolution and the terror.
As to that other fellow, well, you really should look up the youtube of Eddie Izzard talking about empires and such. Quite amusing.
Do you have a flag?
:)