With Fire and Sword
by Henryk Sienkiewicz
The action of this powerful novel, "Poland is carried by the wind", takes place in the 17th century and describes the struggle of the Polish kingdom to maintain its unity in the face of a peasant uprising led by the Cossacks. It was initially serialized in several Polish newspapers, and the episodes appeared in weekly installments. It gained tremendous popularity in Poland and at the beginning of the 20th century it became one of the most popular Polish books in history. It became mandatory to study in Polish schools, translated into English and most European languages. "With Fire and Sword" was the first volume of the series, known to Poles as the Trilogy, followed by "Flood and Fire in the Steppe".
