Don Quixote, Pt.1 (Paperback, New ed)

Don Quixote has become so entranced by his favourite reading, chivalry romances, that he determines to turn knight errant and pursue bold adventures himself. In the company of his faithful squire Sancho Panza, these blossom and grow in all sorts of wonderful directions. While Quixote's fancy often leads him wildly astray - he tilts at windmills, imagining them to be giants - Sancho acquires cunning and a certain sagacity. Sane madman and wise fool, they roam the world together.

With its experimental form and literary playfulness, Don Quixote has been seen by many as the first modern novel. It was enormously influential on European writers from Smollett and Sterne to Dostoyevsky, Flaubert and Dickens.