The book of the modern researcher V.N. Zemtsov, based on a wide range of domestic and foreign sources, many of which are first introduced into scientific circulation, analyzes the circumstances of Napoleon and his army in Moscow. Based on microhistoric approaches, the author offers a well-grounded version of the causes of the Moscow fire and the events that followed, gives a convincing explanation of the reasons for the 35-day "Moscow seat" of the French emperor in the devastated Russian capital.