The history of Italy in the Middle Ages' by Academician Eugene Tarle is a brilliant study, which in a small space of the text succinctly and easily tells about the most important period of Italian history, from the fall of the Western Roman Empire to the onset of the Renaissance. In the interval between these two milestones, we see one after another the barbarian invasions, the change of Byzantine, Spanish, and French rule in Italy, the raids of the Arabs and Normans, the strengthening of the power of the Roman high priests and their confrontation with the Holy Roman emperors, the flourishing of the Lombard commercial republics, the rise of Venice, the special fate of Southern Italy, the emergence of universities - and, finally, the awakening of classical culture after a thousand years of sleep. Eugene Tarle's book was first published in 1906 and has not been reprinted since. Eugene Tarle (1874-1955)-outstanding historian, academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences, corresponding member of the British Academy, honorary Doctor of Paris, Prague and a number of other universities.