Evgeniy Viktorovich Zharinov is a famous Russian writer, literary critic, publicist, and translator. Professor of the Department of World Literature, Faculty of Philology, Moscow State University. Evgeny Zharinov’s new book is dedicated to the era of romanticism, a controversial moment in the history of human culture. The craze for mysticism and spiritualism coexisted with the rapid development of science and medicine, industry and mass thinking. Romanticism revealed to humanity the secret of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, introduced them to dinosaurs, gave them a tin can and revealed the dark genius of Napoleon. Goya, Byron, Hoffmann, Chopin, Nietzsche - this is an incomplete list of geniuses born of the era of romanticism. This book is about his influence on the development of world culture.