Lotman Yu. M. Conversations about Russian culture: life and traditions of the Russian nobility (XVIII - early XIX century) . SPB. : ArtSPB, 1994. — 399 s, 5 l. il. — Format 70x100/16. Circulation 25,000 copies. — ISBN 5-210-01468-1 . Author - an outstanding theorist and cultural historian, founder of the Tartu-Moscow semiotic school . Its readership is huge - from specialists to whom works on the typology of culture are addressed, to schoolchildren who took in their hands "Commentary" to "Eugene Onegin" . The book was created on the basis of a series of television lectures telling about the culture of the Russian nobility .. The past era is presented through the realities of everyday life, brilliantly recreated in the chapters “Duel”, “Card Game”, “Bal”, etc. The book is inhabited by heroes of Russian literature and historical persons among them Peter I, Suvorov, Alexander I, Decembrists .. The actual novelty and wide range of literary associations, the fundamentality and vivacity of the exposition make it a valuable publication in which any reader will find interesting and useful for himself. For students, the book will be a necessary addition to the course of Russian history and literature.