Remembering folly

So if you're not nostalgic for long-lost Imperial days why would you have an interest in the campaigns of the mid-19th century? Well partly it's because these campaigns were folly that makes them interesting - not all wars are fought for noble purposes or any kind of logic - some are fought for that elusive spirit La Gloire - but this doesn't make them any less interesting than the so-called 'just' wars - in fact it's even more reason to read about them.
This image sums up the popular idea that France was on the road to military glory, made for those presumably nostalgic for the days of Napoleon I. Of course all that was going to come crashing down in 1870, but of course at the time this was printed - that was a long way off.