Translated by Peter Motteux and introduced by the prominent scholar Henry Grattan Doyle, this uniform Modern Library College Edition paperback delivers Miguel de Cervantes's monumental masterpiece, Don Quixote, in an accessible academic format. Widely regarded as the first modern novel, the epic narrative tracks Alonso Quixano, an aging Spanish hidalgo who loses his sanity from reading too many chivalric romances and renames himself Don Quixote de la Mancha. Accompanied by his pragmatic, donkey-riding squire, Sancho Panza, the self-appointed knight-errant sets out across the sun-baked plains of La Mancha to revive chivalry, defend the helpless, and honor his imaginary lady love, Dulcinea del Toboso. The plot moves through a famous series of misadventures—including charging headlong into windmills he perceives as fierce giants—functioning as a brilliant, multi-layered satire that deconstructs medieval romance, challenges the boundaries between reality and illusion, and defines the enduring spirit of human idealism.
