The article discusses the main provisions of the book "Before and After Modernity" by A.V. Shipilov. The author focuses on such topics as changes in the sphere of work and leisure, attitude to property, mobility, transformation of sociality and interactions of individuals, which affect the formation of thinking. Нe reflects also about temporality and historicism. Revealing these essential points, the author compares current trends with the pre-modern period. Shipilov asks: aren't we moving back into the past? "Won't the era of the end of history resemble what it was before it began?" Hence originality of the book, although the very idea of “turning backward” is quite controversial. Shipilov's research is interdisciplinary, but conceptual conclusions do not follow from it. Despite abstract nature of the monograph, its positive qualities are noted, which make us think about the processes in modern society, especially in the youth cohort, the group most susceptible to change.