Written against a background of the Thirty Years' War and firstpublished
in 1669, this renowned picaresque classic recounts withwonderful biting
satire the vagabond adventures of a not-so-simplesimpleton during one of
Europe'sfiercest, yet ultimately most futilewars. Simplicius is an
earthy character; he humiliates the mighty, confounds the gods,
ridicules the pretentious.
The translationuses the authoritative first edition for its text,
andthough it hasbeen slightly abbreviated, no essential passages have
been sacrificed.This unexpurgated translation reflects the linguistic
turmoil andrichness of German in the 17th century; it is ideal as the
centrepiecefor courses in German literature in translation and courses
in theEuropean Baroque