Following on the success of With Fire and Sword, this second book of the classic Sienkiewicz Trilogy thunders across the vast historical canvas of Eastern Europe in the 17th Century, and its great human message of war, struggle, love, betrayal and redemption rings just as powerfully today as it did when it was first published in Polish in 1886... moreFollowing on the success of With Fire and Sword, this second book of the classic Sienkiewicz Trilogy thunders across the vast historical canvas of Eastern Europe in the 17th Century, and its great human message of war, struggle, love, betrayal and redemption rings just as powerfully today as it did when it was first published in Polish in 1886.The Deluge is a literary masterpiece, almost unknown today outside its native country, that sweeps across the plains and forests of Poland, Lithuania and Prussia in an epic tale of treasons, faith, selfishness, sacrifice and heroic valor, set against the bloody background of the Swedish invasion of 1655-1657, in an uncanny parallel to the events of our own decade, when an exploited and exhausted Poland threw off the yoke of foreign domination, reacquired its freedom, and opened the doors to liberty in East and Central Europe. Told by a master storyteller who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1905, this scorching tale of battles, passions, and intrigues is the structural and thematic heart of the Trilogy, Poland’s most enduring and popular prose epic. Like the other two books of the Sienkiewicz Trilogy, The Deluge not only depicts vital historical events but mirrors a people’s soul. It is a masterful blend of history and imagination that shows whole nations as well as individuals caught up in earthshaking events and fighting for their lives, and rediscovering themselves through their own commitments.A new cast of fictional and historical heroines and heroes joins the unforgettable characters of With Fire and Sword, brought to life with a depth seldom found in historical fiction. There is the turbulent and self-willed Andrei Kmita, misled into treason, who triumphs over his enemies as well as himself; the beautiful and thoughtful Olenka whose decency and goodness confound a treacherous villain and inspire the hero; the valiant Father Kordetzki who defends Poland’s holiest shrine and wakens the conscience of a nation; the tragically ambitious Prince Yanush Radzivill and his ruthless cousin, Prince Boguslav, who betray their country; and dozens of others. As in all three novels of the Trilogy, The Deluge dazzles with a gallery of Kings, chancellors, generals, magnates, mercenaries, brave soldiers, heroic spiritual leaders and other historical figures who created the era in which this book is set. Rich in action, drama, humor, faith and simple wisdom, they are part of one human experience, not confined to any single nation; as thrilling, true and challenging today as in their own time, and vital to our understanding of the new Europeans.First put into 19th Century English more than 100 years ago, and now largely forgotten in the western world, The Deluge comes brilliantly back to life in this rich new adaptation directly from Polish, made by a Polish-born American novelist for the modern reader, and it illuminates the national character of the extraordinary people who are now taking center stage in a free and democratic Europe. less
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