The generalizing work on history and culture of the Cossacks (book review: Essays on the history and culture of the Cossacks of southern Russia: collective monograph [text] / Ed. by G. G. Matishov, I. O. Tyumentsev ; Southern scientic centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences ; Volgograd branch of Federal state budgetary educational institution of higher professional education)

This article represents a review of the collective monograph “Essays on the history and culture of the Cossacks of Southern Russia”, published in 2014 under the auspices of the Southern Scientific Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Volgograd branch of Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration. The review provides a critical analysis of the material in the collective monograph on the problems of studying the history and culture of the Cossacks. The author notes that the revival of Cossacks that began in the 1990s, not only drew attention to the Cossack problem in modern Russia, but also stimulated scientific and public interest in the history and culture of the Cossacks. Russian Cossacks have rich past and its culture is colorful and specific, its role in the history of Russia is significant. Issues of origin and development of the Cossacks, their place among the peoples of Russia, the specificity of cultural practices are constantly causing great interest for researchers. All this has led scientistsspecialists in the history and culture of the Cossacks to the idea of the creation of this scientific work, which has become a generalization of accumulated research experience on the most important issues of the Cossacks’ historical existence. The authors of the monograph limited their research by Southern Russia because of the complexity of creating general work on all Cossack troops which have historically existed in the Russian state and had sometimes very great cultural differences and special historical destiny. The authors made a very successful attempt to highlight the main problematic aspects of the history and culture of the Cossacks. The genre of essay chosen for creating a collective monograph, has allowed not only to identify the most relevant topics of the Cossack history and culture, but also to consider them in relation and development. Each essay contains material that allows to identify the most important problems of different historical periods and various Cossack communities. Together, we get an idea not only about the history of the Cossacks, but also on the results of professional scientific developments in this area. Essays on the history and culture of the Cossacks of Southern Russia - work in which the efforts of its sponsors were systematically analyzed and the main existing today information and research materials on the history and culture of the Cossacks of Southern Russia were compiled into a single concept.