Creating the book "Essays on the History of Philosophical and Socio-Political Thought of the Peoples of the USSR," the authors set out to give Marxist coverage of the history of advanced philosophical and socio-political thought of the peoples of the USSR. The first volume sets out the history of philosophical and socio-political thought of the Russian people and other peoples of the USSR in the era of feudal serfdom (until the middle of the 19th century), highlights the materialistic philosophy and socio-political views of revolutionary peasant democracy in Russia at the first stage of its development (Herzen, Ogarev, Belinsky, Petrashevtsy).