"The best epic saga of the prewar period"
Czesław Miłosz: History of Polish Literature
Nights And Days
1600 B.C.
A Bronze Age Journey to the murky world of Northern Europe.
Read our Odyssey and our Aeneid.
This tale took our part of the world by a storm. Minoan mariners traveling 1600 B.C. up the river systems of Eastern Europe, looking for the sources of amber: this was our Odyssey! This was our Aeneid! Written in a lofty, epic style by the only man in the world to have translated all of Shakespeare, it became an instant best-seller and has since become a cult-classic for us.
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Millions of copies and thirteen languages later, archeologists begin to tell us how prophetic the author's vision was: during the Bronze Age, Northern and Eastern Europe teemed with nations and kingdoms and religions. Absence of a writing system and the use of wood as the building material mean that these nations have left hardly a trace. But here they are again, resurrected by the mighty pen of Joe Alex.
Read a chapter
The Author
Maciej Słomczyński ("Joe Alex") (1920-1998) was an industry unto himself. He remains Europe's preeminent translator of English literature, the only person in the world to have translated all of Shakespeare, plus Milton's Paradise Lost, plus Swift's Gulliver's Travels; plus Carroll's Alice in Wonderland; plus James Joyce's Ulysses. Under the pseudonym Joe Alex, he authored wildly successful series of detective mysteries, international best-sellers in thirteen languages, and a smash hit Bronze Age saga--our current series: The Ships of Minos.
OUR OTHER GREAT BOOKS FROM POLAND
Aleksander Krawczuk, Europe's best-selling author of books on Graeco-Roman antiquity.
Jacek Bocheński, The Roman Trilogy that rocked the Soviet Block:
Witold Makowiecki: two fun adventures set in the Greek Iron Age that have become school reading classics:
Arkady Fiedler: in 1726, a Polish-Virginian joined a trinbe of Orinoco Indians
Zbig Nienacki: the iconic mystery series featuring the bumbling art detective, Mr. Wheels.
Maria Rodziewiczówna: the still immensely popular novels by perhaps the most interesting woman author of the turn of the twentieth century
