Ionin’s monograph “The Drama of Max Weber’s Life” reveals a number of aspects of Weber’s life and work that are new to Russian web studies, related to both deeply personal and professional and socio-political conflicts. The review analyzes the problems of professional selfdetermination faced by Weber and his attitude to political activity. The fate of Weber’s scientific heritage is considered in the context of contradictions in the development of modern science, including the problems of translation and the language of science in the global world. Here the author gives very valuable comments on the translation of some concepts introduced into science by Weber. It is shown that the inevitability of the transformation of some of his ideas into “pop sociology” is due to both the formation of mass society and the problems of the development of the institute of science. The problems of rationalization and “disenchantment of the world” are considered as the central idea of Weber’s work, special attention is paid to L.G. Ionin’s interpretation of Weber’s little-known statements about the relationship of eroticism and rationality, about “erotic domination”, in the context of collisions of the scientist’s personal life.