Professor of the University of Florence Franco Cardini, familiar to Russian readers from “The Origins of Medieval Chivalry,” in his work explores the relationship between Christian Europe and the Islamic world. A special place in the book is occupied by the history of prejudices, misconceptions and simple misunderstandings - largely thanks to them, Europe and the Islamic East entered into a confrontation that has not died out to this day. The series “The Making of Europe” was founded by five publishing houses in different countries, publishing books in different languages. We present to readers the works of the best modern historians exploring the most important aspects of European history - social life, culture, religion, economics and politics. The goal of these studies is to get closer to answering global questions: “Who are we? Where did you come from? Where are we going?” “The Making of Europe” is not an “academic” series; it is addressed to an educated reader, demanding the accuracy of facts, but not a specialist.