[DanielGee]

Genghis Khan, Alexander the Great, Saladin, Tamerlane, almost an endless list of greater military leaders than napoleon. People who actually won and built empires.

I'd even put george washington and Vo Nguyen Giap above napoleon.

The amount of undeserved praise napoleon gets irks me. He was handed the largest empire ( french empire ) with the greatest army and destroyed it in a few years. He is the architect of a few of the military history's greatest follies. The invasion of egypt, the invasion of russia, the continental blockade, amongst others. Every major military endeavor of his was a colossal failure.

Were it not for the artificial propaganda and myth around the guy, he'd be viewed as one of history's greatest military laughingstocks.

Napoleon's greatness wasn't in the military sphere. His genius was in the bureaucratic and legal spheres.