“Fiery reactionary” - this is what N.A. Berdyaev called Joseph de Maistre in “The New Middle Ages”. Then, seven years after the October Revolution, the philosopher believed that “it is very useful in our days to recall the ideas” of this figure with a “terrifying reputation.” It is useful to remind about J. de Maistre in these days - at least with a new edition of not only his works already known in Russia, but also those that have not yet appeared in Russian. In any case, for the sake of the objectivity of our knowledge of counter-revolutionary Europe, the legacy of J. de Maistre would be worth translating, commenting on and publishing with due completeness..."CONTENTS: V. Kotelnikov. Fiery reactionary 5Four unpublished chapters about Russia 23Chapter one. On freedom 27Chapter two. About science 47 Chapter three. About religion 62 Chapter four. About Enlightenment 79 Appendix to the fourth chapter 103 Conclusion 110 Appendix 115 Letters to a Russian nobleman about the Spanish Inquisition 141 Letter one 144 Letter two 175 Letter three 193 Letter four 209 Letter five 221 Letter six 250 Notes 267