The character of Don Quixote has charmed and amused readers for centuries thanks to the work of Miguel de Cervantes. In this book, readers will find the detailed life story of the Spanish writer Cervantes and his contemporaries. This rich period of literary history includes the plays of Shakespeare, the poems of Milton, the haiku of the Japanese poet Basho, and the French writings of Voltaire. It ends with the Scottish poet Robert Burns, the author of "Auld Lang Syne." Readers are sure to gain an appreciation of the famous works that secured these writers a place in history.