The third volume of the “History of Europe” (the previous ones were 1988 and 1992) was built on a problem-regional principle, which made it possible to reveal the specifics of socio-economic relations and political structures in Europe at the end of the 15th – first half of the 17th century. Special sections are devoted to popular movements in the city and countryside, problems of the Reformation and Counter-Reformation, and great geographical discoveries. Much attention is paid to problems of culture and ideology, in particular the Renaissance and humanism.