Under the general editorship of E. B. Smilyanskaya, Moscow: Indrik, 2011. 840 p., fig. The fundamental research carried out by three authors of the Russian Academy of Sciences and RSUH is undoubtedly an important stage in the study of the Mediterranean by Russian historians. And in terms of analyzing the Archipelago expedition of the Russian Fleet in 1769-1774, the initial period of the formation of Russia's presence in the Mediterranean and the Russian-Arab, Russian-Italian and Russian-Greek relations of the XVIII century, the reviewed monograph has no equal not only in Russian, but also in world historiography. Of course, some of these stories were touched upon in one way or another by our own and especially Western authors, but they covered them, as a rule, one - sidedly, fragmentally, incompletely, often without involving Russian sources or even evidence from the Russian side, and most importantly-in a spirit hostile to Russia. This is not surprising, because Russia's access to the Mediterranean expanses threatened the positions of England, France, and Austria in this region, objectively undermining their influence in Italy, which was still divided at that time, and in the Balkans, as well as in the Ottoman Empire. The latter was no longer feared in the West, gradually taking it into their hands, and they were interested in preserving it as a counterweight to the young, full of energy and rushing to the southern seas of the Russian Empire. The introduction (pp. 9-26) provides a general description of the theme and situation of the Mediterranean in the XVIII century, the gradual maturation of the main postulates of Russia's Mediterranean policy since the XVI century, explains and justifies the structure of the work, in which, in addition to the main chapters, "appendices are essential", namely, 9 newly found documents and related topics. monographs I. M. Smilyanskaya's essays on the symbols and realities of the Eastern Mediterranean in the cultural consciousness ... Read more