Tolstoy's sense of humour was best realised in Kozma Prutkov's extraordinary aphorisms, as well as in his own satirical poems. "Tolstoy... without any doubt, is Russia's greatest absurdist poet," wrote Mirsky. "The Dream of Councillor Popov" and "History of the Russian State from Gostomysl to Timashev", his best known satires, were spread across Russia in manuscript, gaining huge popularity amongst all social strata. According to Mirsky, "The Dream" is "the acme of Russian humorous poetry, mixing sharp, poignant satire... and pure delight in cheerful absurdity". It's "The Dream" that can be seen as Aleksey Tolstoy's most solid claim for immortality," the critic argued, mentioning "The Uproar in the Vatican" as another of his humorous masterpieces.