Friendly French

In his piece on the historic British-French animosity, Alan Massie (Perspective, 21 December) deftly avoided mentioning Napoleon Bonaparte and Scotland’s own Queen Mary.

The former was arguably the greatest general in world history, while the latter was, briefly, queen consort of France.

I visit north-east France every year and have found the locals kind, friendly and courteous. So I harbour no suspicions like “John Bull”.

Douglas Bain

Oxgangs Drive