"I want to prevent the darkness of barbarism from falling over western Europe. It sounds conceited, the idea that one man could do anything like that. But I can try," declares Martin Padway, the focus of all the action in Lest Darkness Fall. In 1939, he is an American archaeologist hoping to find material for his doctoral thesis. While visiting Rome, he is tossed through a weak point in time to the Rome of the sixth century. Italy is ruled by the Goths and is soon to be invaded by the Byzantine Empire and hordes of barbarians.

Fortunately for Padway, he has a sound grasp of Classical Latin and some knowledge of the language of the Goths. A strong-minded man, he sizes up his situation and sets about securing an income for himself. In the opening passages of Lest Darkness Fall, de Camp takes pains to point out that...