The book examines various versions of the beginning of Rus'. The author offers a version according to which Rus' in the middle of the 9th century. founded by the ancient Germanic tribe of Rugians, who came to the Dnieper region from the banks of the Danube. Unlike other works by historians on this topic, here is comprehensive evidence based on European and Arab sources of the 9th-12th centuries. The second edition of the book is supplemented with new arguments in favor of the author's version of the origin of the Rus people.