With Fire and Sword

Download or read book With Fire and Sword written by Henryk Sienkiewicz and published by . This book was released on 1898 with total page 812 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A historical fiction novel, set in the 17th century in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth during the Khmelnytsky Uprising. It was a vehicle for expressing Polish patriotism in a Poland partitioned and deprived of independence. Despite some deviations, the book's historical framework is genuine and the fictional story is woven into real events. Many characters are historical figures, including Jeremi Wiśniowiecki and Bohdan Khmelnytsky (Polish: Bohdan Chmielnicki). Sienkiewicz researched memoirs and chronicles of the Polish nobility, or szlachta, for details on life in 17th-century Poland. The book was written, according to the author, "to lift up the heart" of the Polish nation in the unhappy period following the failed January Uprising during the era of the partitions of Poland. Thus it often favors epic plots and heroic scenes over historical accuracy. Nonetheless, Sienkiewicz's vivid language made it one of the most popular books about that particular place and era.