A very necessary and timely book "The Malay World (Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore). Lingvostranovedcheskiy slovar ' (Moscow, Vostochnaya kniga, 2012, 798 p.) is the fruit of long-term and painstaking work of its author, Candidate of Historical Sciences V. A. Pogadaev. V. Pogadaev has been living in Malaysia for more than ten years and teaches at the University of Malaya (Kuala Lumpur). The book is the result of a project carried out by the author at the University of Malaya and awarded a bronze medal at the "Expo of Research, Inventions and Innovations of Malaysia" in 2007. The dictionary contains about 9 thousand articles reflecting the diverse past and present of the countries of the Malay world: history, economy, geography, ethnography, state structure, art, religion, mythology, literature, music, theater, customs, tourism, cuisine. It includes the names of mythological characters, political and state figures, scientists, writers, artists, musicians, cultural figures, athletes, etc.For convenience, capital words are given alphabetically in the original languages (Malay, Indonesian, English, etc.), and explanations are given in Russian. The extensive index in Russian makes it possible for readers who do not speak foreign languages to use the dictionary. In the context of growing international communication and tourist activity, the range of readers of this publication is very wide. The dictionary is especially useful for teachers and students. E. V. SAFONOVA, Editor of Asia and Africa Today magazine