Miguel de Cervantes published the first volume of Don Quixote in 1605 to instant acclaim. The novel follows Alonso Quixano, a Spanish gentleman so consumed by chivalric romances that he loses his grip on reality, renames himself Don Quixote de la Mancha, and sets out as a knight errant — with his practical squire Sancho Panza — on a series of increasingly deluded and comic adventures across the plains of La Mancha.
This text is available in English translation from the original Spanish. Widely called the first modern novel, Don Quixote is also one of the most profound meditations on the nature of fiction, idealism, and reality ever written. Download this free EPUB from Better Gutenberg and tilt at windmills.