How did the plague affect world literature? Why did the Expulsion from Paradise become one of the fundamental stories in Renaissance culture? “I know everything, but not myself,”□ – what does this phrase of the great poet-thief Francois Villon mean? Why is Don Quixote not just a parody of a chivalric romance? You will learn the answers to these and other questions in the new book by Professor Evgeny Zharinov, dedicated to the history of literature from the very heyday of the Renaissance to the middle of the 20th century. The book is addressed to philologists and students of humanities universities, as well as to everyone who is interested in literature. Evgeniy Viktorovich Zharinov – Doctor of Philology, Professor of the Department of Literature of the Moscow State Linguistic University, Professor of the Humanitarian Institute of Television and Radio Broadcasting. M.A. Litovchina, host of the “Labyrinths” program on the Orpheus radio station, winner of two Golden Microphone awards.