This question fascinates me because for so long it was just held as fact that he was shorter than average, and now it's held as fact that he was actually of average height. But from what I've seen the only evidence really supporting his average height is the translation of his autopsy where, using the French measure he would have been around 5'6". People say British propaganda would have benefited by portraying him as short, but you could say the same for French propaganda making him tall or average.

Anyway, I'm not set either way but I'd like to hear from anyone that's dug in a little further. One of the things I find interesting is this series of first-hand descriptions of Napoleon. Here, even when people acknowledge his height as 5'6" they call it short for the era but it was my understanding that this would be average height for the time so it's all confusing.