Lev Nikolaevich Gumilev - vydayuschijsya russkij istorik i etnograf, osnovatel' teorii passionarnosti, razrabotchik original'noj kontseptsii etnogeneza. V etom tome predstavleny ego klassicheskie teksty, posvyaschennye izucheniyu etapov stanovleniya i gibeli velikoj derzhavy naroda hunnu, ostavivshego glubokij sled v mirovoj istorii. Gumilev pytaetsya ustanovit', kakim obrazom nemnogochislennoe kochevoe plemya sozdalo takoe obschestvo i kul'turu, kotorye pozvolyali emu sohranyat' samostoyatel'nost' na protyazhenii mnogih stoletij i vser'ez protivostoyat' Kitayu - velichajshej imperii toj epohi.
Lev Nikolayevich Gumilev (Лев Гумилев) was a Soviet and Russian historian, ethnologist, anthropologist and translator. He had a reputation for his highly unorthodox theories of ethnogenesis and historiosophy. He was an exponent of Eurasianism. According to geographer Mark Bassin, Lev Gumilev, whose books have now sold millions of copies, can be compared in terms of influence to Herodotus, Karl Marx, Oswald Spengler or Albert Einstein.