Readers are invited to read a book by the famous French sociologist and ethnographer Charles Letourneau (1831-1902), devoted to the study of the evolution of property. The author examines property in animals and primitive people, covers the development of property in Ancient Egypt, China, Japan, Ancient Greece and Rome, in medieval society, including under the feudal regime, as well as in modern Europe in the second half of the 19th century. Special attention is paid to the issue of inheritance, the development of the institution of inheritance since ancient times is traced.