Could there be less to General Cambronne than we have been told? According to a number of readers his moment of monosyllabic heroism may be nothing more than a legend. I have no idea whether these accounts are true –but the case for the prosecution is here. Be warned – the British are not always the most impartial commentators on French history.

On the subject of French quotations, another reader has sent in some from a French author by the name of Jean Dutourd. I know nothing about Dutourd, but judging by these comments the guy was no fool:

“When I was small and had a quarrel with another boy, a grownup would invariably come along and say, “You are the cleverer of the two; give way.’ In other words, the function of intelligence is to make capitulation easier. With that kind of reasoning, stupidity always comes out on top.”

“Most of the time the word realism is a polite translation of the word cowardice.”

“A complete theory about present-day France could be developed under the title ‘Failure Considered as Success.”

Dutourd was writing in the twentieth century. Well over one hundred years before (my correspondent notes), Antoine Livarol had this to say:

“They were always late by one idea, one army, and one year.”

Livarol was writing about the coalition against Napoleon (so this was not a jibe directed at the French), but these are words worth remembering today.