Conference of Dresden (1812) reach that Napoleon demonstrated at Dresden may have helped persuade the American government of the advantages of entering into a war with Britain. The War of 1812 was declared in June of that year. Prior to the conference Napoleon had maintained a mask of friendship towards Russia and it was the first time that his intentions towards that country became apparent. Conference of Dresden (1812) The Conference of Dresden was a May 1812 gathering of European leaders arranged by Napoleon I of France as part of his preparations for the invasion of Russia. It was intended as a demonstration of
War and Peace exposes numerous scoundrels, worthless goons and fools", he added. In 1876 Dostoyevsky wrote: "My strong conviction is that a writer of fiction has to have most profound knowledge—not only of the poetic side of his art, but also the reality he deals with, in its historical as well as contemporary context. Here [in Russia], as far as I see it, only one writer excels in this, Count Lev Tolstoy." Nikolai Leskov, then an anonymous reviewer in ("The Stock Exchange Herald"), wrote several articles praising highly "War and Peace", calling it "the best ever Russian historical novel" and "the pride of