After serving as a soldier in the Thirty Years War, H.J.C. Grimmelshausen (1621-76), devoted himself to literature, penning various satires and gallant novels, although he is chiefly remembered for his picaresque masterpiece, Simplicius Simplicissimus.

'Simplicius Simplicissimus' - the towering achievement of H.J.C. von Grimmelshausen, one of the earliest novelists in the German language - charts the adventures of its hero, Simplicius, through the horrors of battle, murder, fire and famine, offering an invaluable eyewitness account of the Thirty Years War and showing how humanity can, in the end, triumph over brutality. A work of great poetical beauty and satirical strength, and a lasting historical document of timeless value, 'Simplicius Simplicissimus' is presented here in the only edition available in the English language, based on the original text of 1669.