Hold yourself up straight!

With the anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo fast approaching, people are talking about Napoleon, and the question of how tall he was has raised its head again.  Well he was no giant, but equally he was no titch.  The confusion has arisen because back then a person's height was measured in inches, both here and in France - BUT French inches were slightly longer than English ones, so although Napoleon's height was officially given as 62 inches this did not equate to an English 5'2" but more like 5'6" or 7" which would have been a more or less average height for the time.  It suited British propaganda to portray him as short, and certainly he has given his name to the "Napoleon complex" whereby small men often compensate for their shortage of stature by being unduly aggressive and competitive.  It is also said that the fact that he was most often seen in public in the company of his Imperial Guard, who were undoubtedly big tall men would have added to the perception that he was short.  But he wasn't, particularly.