Oleg Valerievich Sokolov - a leading specialist in the history of the Napoleonic era, a holder of the Order of the Legion of Honor, the founder of the military-historical reconstruction movement in Russia - for the first time reveals to us the secret of Napoleon's fatal decision - why did he start a war with the Russian Empire? Maybe the reason for this is dreams Napoleon about world domination? Or did the War of 1812 have completely different “authors” whose conscience bears responsibility for this historical tragedy? Why didn’t the emperor’s “Russian marriage” take place? Who wanted to become the Polish king? Who benefited from this war - divided Poland, isolated England, humiliated Prussia? Who lost from the France-Russia alliance? For the first time in two hundred years, original primary sources are presented here - archival documents, diaries, memoirs (both Russian and French) - with which the Russian reader is not yet familiar. A dispassionate story - uncensored.