History and historians-this is the main plot of the book by the Africanist and Orientalist, professor, Doctor of Historical Sciences A.M. Khazanov "I learned the craft of a historian from them "(Moscow, 2014, 132 p.). The fascinating story, which is hard to break away from, immerses you in the atmosphere of the 1950s, reminds you of the difficult years of perestroika in our country, introduces you to such prominent historians of science as A. A. Huber (1902-1971), B. F. Porshnev (1905-1971), I. S. Galkin (1898-1990) and many others. The author calls them "locomotives that pull the whole train" (p. 7), writes about them with warmth and gratitude for the acquired knowledge. A. M. Khazanov uses the brushstroke of a mature master to draw pictures related to the unforgettable years of his youth, when he came to "conquer" Moscow and enter the History Department of the Lomonosov Moscow State University. It was at the university that he met people who left an indelible mark on his life, who shaped him as a scientist. The author writes not only about his teachers. On the pages of the book we also find the names of his students who have reached the top of science. S. A. Voronin (b. 1971), for example, he considers one of the most gifted and talented scientists, "with paradoxical thinking and able to break the usual stereotypes." The book of A. M. Khazanov can be called a "memoir storeroom", which contains stories about the difficult life of scientists, replete with all sorts of collisions and vicissitudes of fate, who experienced the winds of change. One of these" victims of time " was Yu. V. Gankovsky (1921-2001), who spent his best years in the GULAG behind barbed wire. However, the heavy fate that fell on his life "did not break Yuri Vladimirovich and did not put on him the seal of bitterness and hatred for people." After being released from prison in 1956, he soon defended his PhD thesis and became the academic secretary of the Institute. In each of his teachers, the auth ... Read more