The Deluge: An Historical Novel of Poland, Sweden, and Russia. Vol. 1

Sienkiewicz, Henryk, 1846-1916Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 4.3
Word count
1.3M words
Chapters
129

Tags

English Originals Historical Fiction Historical ReappraisalMilitary StrategyFate and FortuneHeroismPatriotismEpic NarrativeTurbulent EraSeventeenth CenturyCross-Cultural View

Summary

The first volume of the second book in the Nobel laureate Sienkiewicz's "Trilogy," The Deluge is set against the seventeenth-century Polish-Swedish War and combines an epic scope with popular storytelling. Though no Chinese translation appears here, the English edition circulates freely through Project Gutenberg, giving readers direct access to the original. Its strength lies in weaving the tide of history into individual fates: battle scenes, noble assemblies, exile in distant lands, and choices of loyalty unfold layer by layer, and the characters are no flat heroes but people struggling repeatedly amid division and foreign invasion. Reading it, one feels the heavy groundwork and romantic manner characteristic of nineteenth-century historical fiction, and through Poland's ordeal one may also reflect on the plight of small nations caught between great powers. It suits readers interested in Eastern European history and in the narrative craft of historical fiction, and serves as an entry point into Sienkiewicz's creative development. Because it is long and dense with historical background, reading alongside maps and a chronology is advised; there is no need to rush.

Editor's review

This is the first volume of The Deluge, the second book in the Nobel laureate Sienkiewicz's "Trilogy," set against the seventeenth-century Polish-Swedish War and combining an epic scope with popular storytelling. Though no Chinese translation appears here, the English edition circulates freely through Project Gutenberg, giving readers direct access to the original. Its strength lies in weaving the tide of history into individual fates: battle scenes, noble assemblies, exile in distant lands, and choices of loyalty unfold layer by layer, and the characters are no flat heroes but people struggling repeatedly amid division and foreign invasion. Reading it, one feels the heavy groundwork and romantic manner characteristic of nineteenth-century historical fiction, and through Poland's ordeal one may also reflect on the plight of small nations caught between great powers. It suits readers interested in Eastern European history and in the narrative craft of historical fiction, and serves as an entry point into Sienkiewicz's creative development. Because it is long and dense with historical background, reading alongside maps and a chronology is advised; there is no need to rush.

Who it's for

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Reading tips

  1. Read the preface or consult a chronology of the seventeenth-century Polish-Swedish War to establish a timeline before entering the text.
  2. Prepare a map of Eastern Europe and mark march routes and important cities as the plot progresses to reduce geographical confusion.
  3. After each chapter or section, summarize the main characters' shifting positions in two or three sentences to avoid losing track of threads.
  4. If the English is difficult, read the corresponding part of the Chinese translation first, then return to the English edition to appreciate its language and rhythm.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

Contents

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. 12
  13. 13
  14. 14
  15. 15
  16. 16
  17. 17
  18. 18
  19. 19
  20. 20
  21. 21
  22. 22
  23. 23
  24. 24
  25. 25
  26. 26
  27. 27
  28. 28
  29. 29
  30. 30
  31. 31
  32. 32
  33. 33
  34. 34
  35. 35
  36. 36
  37. 37
  38. 38
  39. 39
  40. 40
  41. 41
  42. 42
  43. 43
  44. 44
  45. 45
  46. 46
  47. 47
  48. 48
  49. 49
  50. 50
  51. 51
  52. 52
  53. 53
  54. 54
  55. 55
  56. 56
  57. 57
  58. 58
  59. 59
  60. 60
  61. 61
  62. 62
  63. 63
  64. 64
  65. 65
  66. 66
  67. 67
  68. 68
  69. 69
  70. 70
  71. 71
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  73. 73
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  76. 76
  77. 77
  78. 78
  79. 79
  80. 80
  81. 81
  82. 82
  83. 83
  84. 84
  85. 85
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  87. 87
  88. 88
  89. 89
  90. 90
  91. 91
  92. 92
  93. 93
  94. 94
  95. 95
  96. 96
  97. 97
  98. 98
  99. 99
  100. 100
  101. 101
  102. 102
  103. 103
  104. 104
  105. 105
  106. 106
  107. 107
  108. 108
  109. 109
  110. 110
  111. 111
  112. 112
  113. 113
  114. 114
  115. 115
  116. 116
  117. 117
  118. 118
  119. 119
  120. 120
  121. 121
  122. 122
  123. 123
  124. 124
  125. 125
  126. 126
  127. 127
  128. 128
  129. 129

FAQ

Is this book the complete story of The Deluge? No. This is the first of two volumes, and the story is not yet resolved; by the end you will find multiple character threads and the war still advancing. For a complete reading experience you need to continue to the second volume; reading only the first volume easily leaves a sense of incompleteness.
Can I read this without having read the other two books of the "Trilogy"? Yes. Each book of the trilogy has relatively independent historical events and character focus; this one centers on the Polish-Swedish War and does not depend on the previous book's plot. But to understand Sienkiewicz's overall writing on the Polish national spirit, reading in order is more coherent.
Is the English edition difficult, and what level is it suitable for? This is a late-nineteenth-century English translation of a historical novel, with many long sentences and dense historical names and places; it is not easy reading. College-level English or a willingness to read with a dictionary is recommended; beginners may first use a Chinese translation to become familiar with the plot.
What should I note when using the Project Gutenberg edition? This is a free eBook from public-domain sources, mainly in plain text, and may lack detailed notes and maps. Readers should supplement historical background themselves and note that paragraph display may vary across devices.

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Sienkiewicz, Henryk, 1846-1916 Author

Henryk Sienkiewicz (Sienkiewicz, Henryk, 1846-1916) is a renowned Polish writer whose works are represented by 33 titles on this Chinese book site. His best-known representative works include the historical novels With Fire and Sword, The Deluge, and Pan Michael, which are set against the history of Poland, Russia, Sweden, and Ukraine and present grand battle scenes and the fates of their characters; Quo Vadis, set in Nero's Rome, depicts the conflict between early Christianity and the Roman Empire. Other works such as In Desert and Wilderness are also available in the collection. Sienkiewicz's style emphasizes historical detail and narrative tension, often reflecting national and epochal destinies through individual experience, combining readability with emotional power and earning him a wide readership. Due to limited public information, details of his life are not expanded here.