The Ancient Indian epic literature, the Roman history, the Middle Age, the contemporary Europe, America, Japan - all are the subjects of Yourcenar's essays. Every tiny detail is depicted in her profound literary portraits, poetic miniatures end historical sketches. The author's horizon is very wide. Yourcenar, the person of outstanding erudition and acute comprehension, wrote essays all her life long and finally they made 5 volumes. They are all included in the present collection and translated into Russian for the first time.

ISBN 5-89059-042-1