Moscow, Nauka Publ. 1984, 302 p. In recent years, Soviet historians, ethnographers, cultural historians, and representatives of other related disciplines have been increasingly paying attention to comprehensive, comparative-historical research that makes it possible to overcome the limitations of the country-specific approach (which, of course, is necessary in itself, although insufficient). The fruitfulness of comprehensive collective research is also demonstrated by the peer-reviewed monograph1, which analyzes the leading political trends in relations between the countries of Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe and the Ottoman Empire during the second half of the 15th and 16th centuries. The idea of the book itself is also original, combining the efforts of specialists studying various countries to identify patterns and features of the development of political relations between the Ottoman Empire and the countries and peoples of the area under consideration, the relationship between the socio-political development of the Ottoman Empire and the peoples of the Balkans who gradually fell under its rule. The authors analyzed a variety of source studies and historiographical material. At the same time, the features of the socio - economic and political development of the Ottoman empire are considered not only in special sections, but are taken into account everywhere, contributing to a more complete coverage of the historical development of different Balkan countries. The goals and objectives of the monograph are described in the Introduction. Here it is emphasized that the period of the second half of the XV-XVI centuries was a turning point: "during the well-organized military and political expansion of the Porte in South - Eastern and Central Europe, in the process of complex interaction of all the feudal states of this region, significant changes took place in the historical destinies of the peoples of this part of the European continent" (p.3). Aiming at a b ... Read more