The Field of Glory

Regarded as the most outstanding and prolific Polish writer of the second half of the nineteenth century, the 1905 Nobel Prize winner, Henryk Sienkiewicz is perhaps best known for his epic historical novel Quo Vadis, which depicts early Christianity and the persecutions. Sienkiewicz was known for his gigantic scenes, bright contrasts and the epic sweep of his works. He was a master in creating mass-action scenes and battles. On the Field of Glory, his last published book, begins with an adventure as a party rides through deep snow at night east of Radom, in the heart of Poland, and is suddenly confronted by wild boars and hungry wolves ready to devour people and horses. A dramatic rescue follows, and we are introduced to Sienkiewicz's typical nobles. In the Kozienice Wilderness we meet Pan Pagowski, an insufferable snob; and the Bukojemski brothers, a bunch of rascals. Aniulka Sininska is a typical Polish young beauty, always helpless in Sienkiewicz's writings, and Jacek Taczewski is her hero. Sienkiewicz was adept at combining truth with fiction, and thus we find fictional names interspersed with those of real ones. The novel ends rather abruptly as the Polish army moves towards Vienna.


Genre: Historical