Pierre Chaunu, a historian of the French Annales school, represents the era of European Enlightenment, unique in world culture, born from the concept of progress (in science, technology, art, social structures, philosophy) and leading to the French Revolution. The reader will see how in this era everyday life fed the spirit of creativity, discovery and philosophical reflection and how, in turn, high ideas were implemented at the level of everyday consciousness and the world of material things. The author shows that behind the great events of “big” history there are little things that are not noticeable either at first or second glance, playing the role of truly triggering mechanisms of the historical process. Try to think about how the habit of drinking tea, brought by the British from the colonies, led to an increase in European life expectancy and the opportunity to receive a better education, or, for example, think about the connection between the Encyclopedia of the Enlightenment and the replacement of chests with cabinets in 18th-century houses.