What is the meaning of the term "Slavs"? What content was invested in the concept of "Russians"? How was the ethnonymy of the Eastern, Western and Southern Slavs interpreted in early modern times? What were the symbols of Slavic ethnicity and their explanations? These and many related issues are considered in the new book by A. S. Mylnikov. It is a thematic continuation of the author's monograph, published in 1996 and received an honorary place as one of the intellectual bestsellers of the year. Summing up the results of the study, the author considers the ways of folding ethnicity in the cultural language system, the problems of the historical memory of the ethnic group and other issues. The book is intended for historians, ethnographers, culturologists and everyone who is interested in the history of the culture of the Slavs in its relationships with the culture of neighboring ethnic groups.