The article is devoted to approaches to the study of difficult heritage and its interpretation in the studies of foreign authors. The dynamic of comprehension of the difficult heritage is demonstrated by highlighting three influential works that have formed certain trajectories of the consideration of difficult heritage in scientific literature. It is noted that the monograph by J. E. Tunbridge and G. J. Ashworth placed difficult heritage in the discourse of heritage management and tourism. The work of S. Macdonald sets the direction for the study of material heritage and architectural structures as a difficult heritage. The study of V. Logan and C. Reeves contributed to the development of cross-cultural cultural and interdisciplinary studies of the difficult heritage.