The harrowing and hilarious Adventures of a Simpleton is unanimously acclaimed today as the greatest German novel of the 17th century. Set against the gristly background of the Thirty Years' War, it is a vivid and realistic re-creation of an age, evoked by an artless and earthy language new to German literature at the time. Grimmelshausen's grotesque realism is the primary literary testimony of the Thirty Years' War, and the human folly implicit in it, by an errant soldier of fortune. Influenced by the Spanish picaresque novel, the saga of Simplicius takes its hero through wars, marriages, and travels that culminate on an uncharted South Atlantic island. Walter Wallich, in this translation, aptly captures the zest, the pageantry and the humour of the original. He has also written a special postscript, with revealing sidelights on Grimmelshausen, whose life corresponded in many ways to that of his hero.

Grimmelshausen's enduring fame as Germany's greatest satirical novelist has rested mainly on The Adventerous Simplicissimus, the first of four novels comprising the Simplician cycle. Less well known, though of equal interest for their penetrating and satiric insight into seventeenth-century beliefs and superstitions, are the two Simplician tales now made available to English readers in this edition: Courage, The Adventuress, the fictional biography of a camp follower in the Thirty Years War, a grimly humorous tale told in the earthy language of the people; and The False Messiah, comprising nine chapters from Grimmelshausen's last work, The Enchanted Bird's Nest, Part II. The book includes an Introduction with an account of Grimmelshausen's life, works, and philosophy, as well as critical comment on the two works. Originally published in 1964. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Grimmelshausen's enduring fame as Germany's greatest satirical novelist has rested mainly on The Adventerous Simplicissimus, the first of four novels comprising the Simplician cycle. Less well known, though of equal interest for their penetrating and satiric insight into seventeenth-century beliefs and superstitions, are the two Simplician tales now made available to English readers in this edition: Courage, The Adventuress, the fictional biography of a camp follower in the Thirty Years War, a grimly humorous tale told in the earthy language of the people; and The False Messiah, comprising nine chapters from Grimmelshausen's last work, The Enchanted Bird's Nest, Part II. The book includes an Introduction with an account of Grimmelshausen's life, works, and philosophy, as well as critical comment on the two works. Originally published in 1964. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.