After the close of the Hungarian war, when the marriage of Pan Andrei Kmita and Panna Aleksandra Billevich was celebrated, a cavalier, equally meritorious and famous in the Commonwealth, Pan Michael Volodyovski, colonel of the Lauda squadron, was to enter the bonds of marriage with Panna Anna Borzobogati Krasienski. But notable hindrances rose, which delayed and put back the affair. The lady was a foster-daughter of Princess Griselda Vishnyevetski, without whose permission Panna Anna would in no wise consent to the wedding. Pan Michael was forced therefore to leave his affianced in Vodokty, by reason of the troubled times, and go alone to Zamost for the consent and the blessing of the princess. But a favoring star did not guide him: he did not find the princess in Zamost; she had gone to the imperial court in Vienna for the education of her son. The persistent knight followed her even to Vienna, though that took much time. When he had arranged the affair there successfully, he turned homeward in confident hope. He found troubled times at home: the army was forming a confederacy; in the Ukraine uprisings continued; at the eastern boundary the conflagration had not ceased. New forces were assembled to defend the frontiers even in some fashion. Before Pan Michael had reached Warsaw, he received a commission issued by the voevoda of Rus. Thinking that the country should be preferred at all times to private affairs, he relinquished his plan of immediate marriage and moved to the Ukraine. He campaigned in those regions some years, living in battles, in unspeakable hardships and labor, having barely a chance on occasions to send letters to the expectant lady. Next he was envoy to the Crimea; then came the unfortunate civil war with Pan Lyubomirski, in which Volodyovski fought on the side of the king against that traitor and infamous man; then he went to the Ukraine a second time under Sobieski. From these achievements the glory of his name increased in such manner that he was considered on all sides as the first soldier of the Commonwealth, but the years were passing for him in anxiety, sighs, and yearning. At last 1668 came, when he was sent at command of the castellan to rest; at the beginning of the year he went for the cherished lady, and taking her from Vodokty, they set out for Cracow. They were journeying to Cracow, because Princess Griselda, who had returned from the dominions of the emperor, invited Pan Michael to have the marriage at that place, and offered herself to be mother to the bride. The Kmitas remained at home, not thinking to receive early news from Pan Michael, and altogether intent on a new guest that was coming to Vodokty. Providence had till that time withheld from them children; now a change was impending, happy and in accordance with their wishes. That year was surpassingly fruitful. Grain had given such a bountiful yield that the barns could not hold it, and the whole land, in the length and the breadth of it, was covered with stacks. In neighborhoods ravaged by war the young pine groves had grown in one spring more than in two years at other times. There was abundance of game and of mushrooms in the forests, as if the unusual fruitfulness of the earth had been extended to all things that lived on it. Hence the friends of Pan Michael drew happy omens for his marriage also, but the fates ordained otherwise.

These classics follow a dramatized versions of famous events in Polish history, weaving fact and fiction. The first novel, titled With Fire and Sword, chronicles the mid-17th century Ukrainian Cossacks revolt in Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth known as the Khmelnytsky Uprising. The second book, The Deluge, describes the Swedish invasion of Poland in the mid 17th century known as The Deluge, which followed the Khmelnytsky Uprising. The final novel, Pan Michael, follows wars between Poland and the Ottoman Empire in the late 17th century.

Laugh along with Michael McIntyre as he lifts the curtain on his life in his long-awaited autobiography.Michael's first book ended with his big break at the 2006 Royal Variety Performance. Waking up the next morning in the tiny rented flat he shared with his wife Kitty and their one-year-old son, he was beyond excited about the new glamorous world of show business. Unfortunately, he was also clueless . . .In A Funny Life, Michael honestly and hilariously shares the highs and the lows of his rise to the top and desperate attempts to stay there. It's all here, from his disastrous panel show appearances to his hit TV shows, from mistakenly thinking he'd be a good chat show host and talent judge, to finding fame and fortune beyond his wildest dreams and becoming the biggest-selling comedian in the world. Along the way he opens his man drawer, narrowly avoids disaster when his trousers fall down in front of three policemen and learns the hard way why he should always listen to his wife.Michael has had a silly life, a stressful life, sometimes a moving and touching life, but always A Funny Life.

The Polish author Henryk Sienkiewicz is best remembered for his historical novels, particularly the internationally known bestseller ‘Quo Vadis’. Numerous translations of his innovative novels gained him international renown, culminating with the 1905 Nobel Prize in Literature for "outstanding merits as an epic writer." This comprehensive eBook presents Sienkiewicz’ complete works, with numerous illustrations, rare texts appearing in digital print for the first time, informative introductions and the usual Delphi bonus material. (Version 1) * Beautifully illustrated with images relating to Sienkiewicz’ life and works * Concise introductions to the novels and other texts * All 10 translated novels, with individual contents tables * Images of how the books were first published, giving your eReader a taste of the original texts * Excellent formatting of the texts * Features rare short stories appearing for the first time in digital publishing * Special chronological and alphabetical contents tables for the short stories * Easily locate the short stories you want to read * Scholarly ordering of texts into chronological order and literary genres Please visit www.delphiclassics.com to browse through our range of exciting titles CONTENTS: The Trilogy With Fire and Sword The Deluge Pan Michael Other Novels Without Dogma Children of the Soil Quo Vadis The Knights of the Cross On the Field of Glory Whirlpools In Desert and Wilderness The Shorter Fiction Yanko the Musician and Other Stories Lillian Morris and Other Stories Hania and Other Stories Let Us Follow Him Sielanka: A Forest Picture, and Other Stories In Vain Life and Death and Other Legends and Stories The Short Stories List of Short Stories in Chronological Order List of Short Stories in Alphabetical Order Non-Fiction and Dramas So Runs the World Please visit www.delphiclassics.com to browse through our range of exciting titles or to purchase this eBook as a Parts Edition of individual eBooks