Review: Sketchbook of the Russian Culture. A Turn of the XIX – XX Centuries.Vol. 1. The Public and Cultural Environment. – M. : Moscow university, 2011. – 880 p.: il.

The review examines the integration of system or system-functional approach applied to the study of Russian culture by a team. With this approach, the object of study is the mechanism of culture functioning. This mechanism is represented by the education system, cultural and educational institutions, books, periodicals and cultural information system. They are the means of dissemination of knowledge. The introduction clarifies the concept of “socio-cultural” in relation to the turn of XIX–XX centuries: in the foreground culture of everyday life is derived. There are three large sections in the book: “City”, “Village”, “Manor”. These so-called socio-cultural formations constitute the cultural space in interaction. City is described most clearly and in detail in the book, because, according to the authors, despite the priority of the administrative function it remained at the turn of the century as a cultural center, as a hotbed of creative culture. For the first time in the historiography there are attempts to show separately the state and development of the school in the city and in the countryside. For the first time the author introduced the concept of mass culture applied to that era. He gave a little analysis of cinema as a new form of entertainment, and a new art form. It was very important to characterize the socio-cultural environment of the village because the prevalence of peasantry in the Russian population determines, to a certain extent, the characteristics of the development of culture in the country. In contrast to the first and second sections, the latter consists of only one essay. Despite the excessive brevity, the author was able to present his Russian estate as a phenomenon of Russian culture. In general, peer-reviewed publication has a tremendous scientific value