V rabote rassmotrena sushchnost" teorii passionarnosti L"va Gumileva i issledovany problemy, kotorye ona porozhdaet – otkuda beretsya passionarnost", pochemu v odnikh etnosakh ona b"et klyuchom, a v drugikh, nakhodyashchikhsya v tochno takikh zhe usloviyakh, polnost"yu otsutstvuet; yavlyaetsya li passionarnost" pervoprichinoy vsekh obshchestvennykh izmeneniy ili t ol"ko sredstvom, orudiem Istorii; chto yavlyaetsya pervichnym – sama passitonarnost" ili kakie-to faktory, ee porozhdayushchie. Pokazana rol" passionarnosti v vozniknovenii i osushchestvlenii voyn i revolyutsuiy, sformulirovany ikh prichiny i zakonomernosti.