For the first time in Russian, a collection of works by a French researcher is published, standing, along with E. Durkheim and M. Weber, at the source of modern sociology. The thematic sections of the book reflect the versatility of M. Halbwax's scientific interests: the social structure and conditions of social practices; the reality of society, group and individual; linking psychology, economics and statistics to sociology; the functioning of collective forms of feeling, perception and thinking; history and logic of urban space formation; causes of demographic change; the ratio of the real to the imagined in a sociological explanation. Of particular importance is the publication to clarify the working context of modern sociology and social history.