Napoleon Bonaparte has been lionized by some in France — largely on the political right — as a military genius, a modernizer and a national hero who evokes a more glorious time. To others he's an imperialist, a warmonger and an enslaver who should be vilified, not venerated. While most present-day French leaders have shunned paying tribute to the divisive general, President Emmanuel Macron broke with convention on the 200th anniversary of Napoleon's death and urged the country to confront its history. |