The authors of the volume introduce readers to the picture of the world in the XVIII century . , developed in modern historical science, as well as with the problems of the latest research on the fate of the main regions in this century. The traditional view of the Enlightenment as a cultural phenomenon, which was limited to European countries and their sphere of influence, was enriched by the idea of this era as a qualitatively new stage in the global interaction of cultures. The rapid development of contacts between Europe and other civilizations gave contemporaries a rich food for reflection on the unity and diversity of the destinies of countries and peoples. Does it have a value ,? closely related to the heritage of the European XVIII century - the practice of freedom , Human Rights , Faith in Progress , — absolute and universal? Is it worth fighting for their distribution? Or should we recognize the inevitability of coexistence of different value systems , Not just in the world ,. but also within individual countries? How in this case they will be integrated into the process of globalization? These questions, Rooted in the Age of Enlightenment , Sounds especially relevant today. For historians and wider readership.