In the early 17th century, an aged veteran of Spain's wars against the Ottoman Empire published a book. It was the story of a poor nobleman who deludes himself that he is a knight errant and sets off on hilarious adventures. Don Quixote went on to sell more copies than any other book beside the Bible, making its author Cervantes the single most-read author in human history.
In this edition of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to William Egginton, author of The Man Who Invented Fiction: How Cervantes ushered in the Modern World. Together they explore Cervantes's life and the world he lived in, how his influences converged in his work, and how Don Quixote radically changed the nature of literature and created a new way of viewing the world.
This episode was edited and produced by Rob Weinberg.
For more Not Just The Tudors content, subscribe to our Tudor Tuesday newsletter here.
If you'd like to learn even more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe today! To download, go to Android or Apple store
","author_name":"History Hit"}