Our original title is Der Abenteuerliche Simplicissimus Teutsch, and our author's full name was Hans Jakob Christoffel von...

Although a few previous works on the "1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die"list had some basis in historical events – "Romance Of The...

I was surprised to learn that Cervantes, author of the classic "Don Quixote," thought that his last work, "Los Trabajos De Persiles Y...

Everybody knows what "Don Quixote" is about, don't they? Not exactly. The story's basics are among the most famous in all of literature,...

First of all, I have to admit I can't really tell why this work has the title "Thomas Of Reading". Thomas is a character here, to be...

Toward the beginning of this short work, the narrator, Jack Wilton, an upper-class soldier in the army of England's Henry VIII fighting...

Here's a novel based on historical fact, but which quite obviously includes a lot of fantastical elements that didn't happen – or if they...

The mid-16th century must have been an exciting time in Europe. Explorers were returning from exploring the globe, bringing back news of...

The main character of "Euphues" is just not a very nice guy. Although his name derives from a Greek word meaning "graceful" or "witty,"...

Not too many authors have seen their very names add words to the English language. There's Kafka and Lovecraft and a few others, but even...

I don't know about you, but "The Life Of Lazarillo de Tormes" strikes me as kind of a late-period work to carry "Anonymous" in the...

Some confusion seems to exist as to the true provenance of "Amadis Of Gaul," and even as to its true author. Did Garci Rodriguez de...

I learned a lot of Jewish history growing up – slavery in Egypt, the Temples and their destruction, millennia of exile, the Holocaust....

For an early example of chivalric literature – a book that no less a figure that Cervantes, author of that classic knightly novel "Don...

We learn that "The Golden Ass" by Lucius Apuleius is the only work of prose fiction to survive in its entirety from ancient Rome. Good...

I've seen "The Water Margin" described as the Chinese Robin Hood, in that its heroes fight for justice by departing from the ordinary...

Once again I find myself judging an ancient work of literature by modern standards, which is spectacularly unfair, but only to be...

We frequently find, in ancient literary work (or even more recent work from pre-electronic years), that it's enormous. It often takes...

This story tells of a mysterious princess, her great beauty, her various suitors and how they all make fools of themselves. If it weren't...

I'm ordinarily a very fast reader. On the other hand, it took me about nine and a half months to finish this. Hoo boy, am I stuffed....