Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra Books In Order

Publication Order of Don Quixote Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Short Stories/Novellas

Publication Order of Plays

Publication Order of Collections

Publication Order of Anthologies

Miguel de Cervantes was a Spanish novelist, playwright, and poet that is best known for his novel “Don Quixote.” The author was born in Alcala de Henares in 1547 and spent much of his childhood in a small town just outside the Spanish capital of Madrid.
He was born to a mother of Jewish descent while his father practiced as a surgeon. There is very little known about his childhood and what is known comes from his later years. He ultimately went to live in Madrid for his studies and while there published several short works of poetry.

Thereafter, he moved to Rome where he became an enlisted member of the Holy League which had been set up by Europe’s Catholic kingdoms as a response to the Ottoman Empire’s expansionist policies.
In 1571, he got wounded in the Battle of Lepanto and was out for a year before he went back and found employment working for the military forces of Juan of Austria. In 1575 he was part of a crew that was seized by Barbary pirates and subsequently he served as a slave for half a decade in Algiers.

He made four attempts at escaping his slavery until he was ultimately ransomed and taken back to Madrid. Shortly after arriving back in Spain, he got engaged and was married to a woman tawny years his junior named Catalina de Salazar.

Cervantes launched his fiction writing career in 1585 when he published several pastoral novels and some of his plays became very popular. Two years later, he left Madrid and moved to Andalusia in the south, perhaps for financial reasons.
For more than a decade, he was a traveler all over southern Spain as a tax collector and dealer for the Invincible Armada. However, his financial problems continued to haunt him and in 1605 he was arrested and jailed in Seville.
It was while he was in jail in Seville that he had the idea for his magnum opus Don Quixote. In 1605 he published the first part of the work and immediately saw a lot of commercial success. Despite setbacks such as interpersonal disputes, scandals, and deaths in the family, he would finally make it as a professional author.

Unlike many authors that stick to one genre, Cervantes is known for writing novels in most of the literary genres of the time. He also tried his hand at poetry but was never so good at it. He also penned several plays which were modestly successful though not as much as “Don Quixote” the novel.

Miguel de Cervantes’ most well-known achievement in theater has to be his collection of “Eight New Interludes,” “Eight Comedies,” and “Never Before Acted,’ all of which he published in 1612. In fact some of the scenes that have been found in his magnum opus showcase the influence of the farcical, comical interlude.

Overall, Cervantes’ greatest accomplishments were in the narrative format. He began achieving success in 1585 when he published “L Galatea,” the pastoral novel. According to the author, that was to be the first segment of a much larger work.
Nonetheless, while he promised to pen the subsequent segments, he never concluded the writing of the work. However, looking at some of the episodes in Don Quixote such as Eugenio and Leandra and Grisostomo and Marcela, it is evident that there are some ironic representations, similar to what may be found in La Galatea.

“Don Quixote Part 1,” which is arguably his best work ever was published in 1605. The author died in April 1616 on the very day on which William Shakespeare also died.

Since he published “Don Quixote,” Miguel de Cervantes stuck mostly to the publishing of occasional poems that were published in a range of prestigious magazines. Some of these magazines include “Cristobal” and “Lope de Vega’s Dragontea.”
In 1616, he was afflicted with edema and believing he was near death’s door, he received the sacrament of extreme unction. The following day he penned the most gallant and moving farewells to the count de Lemos titled “Persiles y Sigismunda.”
The author died in the Calle del Leon in Madrid in April 1616. He was taken out of the building according to traditional Catholic rituals of the Tertiaries of St Francis. He was then buried in the church compound of the Trinitarian nun’s convent on 24th April.

“Don Quixote” by Miguel de Cervantes tells the story of an impoverished man of noble blood named Alonzo Quixano, who changes his life direction after he read a ton of romance novels.

Driven insane by the other world in which the greatness of the soul, the meaning of life, and courtly manners are honored, he changes his name to Don Quixote de la Mancha.

Wearing a helmet and armor he goes on a quest to live in the mundane world where he can do some chivalrous deeds. On his travels across the land he meets the working classes and fellow travelers, the poor and the rich clergy and royalty.
Alongside him on the difficult journey is his squire Sancho Panza that could not be more different from him. Sancho is a realist who does not have any illusions about life and given his kindhearted nature, he never forces any of his views on others.
While Quixote is given to flights of fancy as he gets lost tilting at windmills, Sancho becomes a sagacious and cunning man. A wise fool and sane madman, they roam the land together haunting readers’ imaginations for four centuries.
With its literary playfulness and experimental form, Don Quixote would be regarded as the first modern novel.

In Miguel de Cervantes’s heyday his work” Exemplary Novels” used to be more popular than his Magnum Opus “Don Quixote.” These works have become known for being delightful, challenging, and surprising works that range from satirical to picaresque.
They defy the conventions of chivalric and heroic literature as they combine moral ambiguity and comic irony, sheer mirth, and realism to make for some very intriguing stories.

“Interludes” by Miguel de Cervantes are works that offer keyhole glimpses into the world far removed from military heroism or courtly elegance.

It is a world populated by characters that are inspired by the underbelly of 17th-century Madrid which was the Babylon of deceivers and opportunists.

Miguel has created some beautiful vignettes that have a remarkable similarity to “Don Quixote.”