How long ago did interest in Slavism arise in Russia? Who was the first Russian researcher who devoted his life to the study of Slavic peoples? What is the essence of the concepts of pan-Slavism and neo-Slavism? What are the views of the Slavophiles and Westerners, the populist and social democrats on the past and future of the Slavs? These and many other questions can be answered in our book, which includes materials on the study of history, ethnography, folklore, language, literature of the southern and western Slavs in Russia from the 10th century. to 1917