The Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes was an accomplished author in the late 16th century. His famous work, Don Quixote is continued to be read and enjoyed by people today. Except for The Bible, no book has been so widely diffused into as many different languages and editions as Don Quixote.

The influence of Don Quixote on later literature was astounding. The work, which is in essence a parody of the time's popular chivalric romances, had been written in a realistic style... It is believed that the influence of this work can be seen in such writers as Sir Walter Scott, Charles Dickens, Benito Perez Galdos and in painters like William Hogarth and Pablo Picasso. (Sieber 257)

Miguel de Cervantes was born in 1547 in Alcalá de Henares, Spain. He joined the navy around 1570 where he was captured by pirates and taken as a slave in Algeria. Once...