Treatise by a historian, philosopher, economist and lawyer of the 16th century. J. Bodin is one of the first fundamental works on the theory of history in Western Europe. The book was first published in 1566 in Paris in Latin. Seeing the light during the period of religious civil wars, it allows the modern reader to judge how people of the 16th century. historical experience was perceived, how they used it, what place history occupied in the system of intellectual values and in the practical life of that time. This work expands our understanding of the culture of the French Renaissance. CONTENTS: Excerpt from Royal Privilege (5). Dedication. Jean Vaudin greets the President of the Chamber of Inquiries, Jean Tessier (7).Introduction. About the ease, pleasantness and benefits of historical reading (14). Chapter I. What is history and what is it like (20). Chapter II. On the correct structure of history (23).Chapter III. On the correct arrangement of individual parts of history (30). Chapter IV. The choice of historians (42).Chapter V. Correct assessment of history (78).Chapter VI. Forms of government (134). Chapter VII. Refutation of those who defend the theories of the golden age and four monarchies (260). Chapter VIII. Universal Time System (269).Chapter IX. Criteria that determine the origins of peoples (295). Chapter X. Location and selection of historians (313). APPENDICES Jean Bodin and his treatise “Method of easy knowledge of history” (M.S. Bobkova) (332). Notes (361). Index names (402).