About the book: 1976 / This book examines complex problems of the social, political, diplomatic, military history of European states on the eve and at the beginning stages of the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) - the first all-European war that broke out at the turn of the Middle Ages and modern times and took place against the background of broad popular movements of this era of transition from feudalism to capitalism. In a new way, using a wide range of sources, including rich materials from Russian archives, B. F. Porshnev shows the place of Russia in the system of European states of that time, its role in the history of the Thirty Years' War.