In the book "Empires of the Middle Ages", edited by the famous medievalist historian Sylvain Guggenheim, for the first time under one cover are collected works describing the formation and development of 16 empires in different parts of the world. The purpose of this collection is to cover with a single glance similar political formations within the framework of an extended chronological segment on a planetary scale. The structure of the presentation of the material is due to the division of empires into three groups proposed by Guggenheim: universe empires (such as the Carolingian empire, Byzantium, the Mongol and Chinese empires, etc.), empires isolated in a certain geographical space (Bulgarian, Serbian, Japanese, Latin empire Constantinople, solar empires of Latin America), as well as empires with dispersed territories (the German Empire of the Ottons, the Norman Empire, the Plantagenet Empire, the thalassocratic empires of Venice and Srivijaya). The articles of the authors, including both eminent scientists and bright young researchers, are distinguished by their original approaches, are full of facts and conclusions, which are of undoubted interest not only for specialists, but also for the widest range of history buffs.