A historian-specialist in the Middle Ages addresses the 20th century subjects. Initially as a researcher of historiography, of the world that surrounded historians of the Stalin’s period, and later on as a researcher of culture, ideology, literary criticism, and artistic manifestoes. That is unusual path and this path characterizes scientific exploration search of A.L.Yurganov, expert in Russian Medieval culture and at the same time a researcher of culture, humdrum and everyday background of the past age. Now the author of the new book (collection of articles written in various years) is preoccupied with the general sense meaning of the intellectual history that, as a peculiar world, stems from the everyday life world. This world was common for people who occupied one side and for those who held totally opposite positions. The reviewers muse over the method employed by the historian in the new book and over the peculiar point of the 20th century cultural history.

The authors consider the most recent experience that is acquired due to study of peculiarities of a new social-psychological and creative space formation in the Soviet literature and public life of the 1920s exemplified by materials of the Soviet men of letters' private archives and their legal cases and court investigations. The authors analyze mechanisms of creative personalities' adaptation to conditions and requirements of the emerging totalitarian culture.

The article analyzes the monograph ‘The Russian Paradigm' by Professor Dula Svak. The authors examine the originality of his research and the peculiarities of the Russian studies undertaken by Dula Svak within the broad theoretical and methodological framework of the search for formulae of Russian history in contemporary foreign historiography of the Russian history.