About the book: 2021 / A new book by the famous medievalist Natalia Basovskaya will allow the reader to touch the history of one of the most ancient cultural cradles of the world - Italy. Famous painters, fearless sailors and travelers, popes and enterprising rulers, as well as the most exciting and significant events of the past against the backdrop of Italian color will appear on these pages. You will learn how a blind man from an aristocratic family, Enrico Dandolo, received the title of head of the Venetian Republic and influenced outcome of the Fourth Crusade; who allowed Niccolò Machiavelli to write his most controversial work, The Prince; why the son of the shoemaker Tommaso Campanella was recognized as “the greatest son of Italy” along with the scientist Galileo Galilei. Fascinating historical essays about outstanding figures of Italy from Natalia Basovskaya!