On the wonderful new CD by Barry Dransfield ("Unruly" - you really must buy a copy!) there's a song called "Grand Conversation" which, although it sounds very New Labour (ha ha), is a broadsheet ballad about Napoleon Bonaparte. The song is a narrative ballad, and not particularly anti-Bonaparte or even anti-French. So, could anyone give me their views on why there were so many pro-Bonaparte songs in Britain that appear to celebrate the life of this dictator? Was it because he posed a threat and an alternative to "our" own despotic monarchy and ruling class of the early-19th Century?

Other ideas, and examples of other Bonaparte songs much appreciated.

Regards

Norman D.