Don Quixote

Description:

Considered to be the first modern European novel, Miguel de Cervantes' Don Quixote, initially published in two volumes (1605, 1615) is one of the great works of Western civilization. The exploits of the delusional knight Don Quixote and his loyal sidekick Sancho Panza through sixteenth century Spain are both absurdly entertaining and profoundly heartbreaking.

Brief description:

Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616) was a Spanish writer whose work included plays, poetry, short stories, and novels. Although much of the details of his life are a mystery, his experiences as both a soldier and as a slave in captivity are well documented; these events served as subject matter for his best-known work, Don Quixote (1605) as well as many of his short stories. Although Cervantes reached a degree of literary fame during his lifetime, he never became financially prosperous; yet his work is considered among the most influential in the development of world literature.