The Good Soldier Svejk
by Jaroslav Hasek
Buy on AmazonPresented here in a stunning hardcover edition, The Good Soldier Švejk, written in the aftermath of World War I by Czech humorist Jaroslav Hašek (1883–1923), stands as the classic satiric portrait of a little man waging war against authority. The unassuming and affable Švejk, having been called to serve in the Austro-Hungarian army at the start of the Great War, shrewdly plays the bumbling fool and makes a genial nuisance of himself, managing to avoid ever reaching the front while appearing loyally determined to do so. Possessed of an unerring talent for finding himself in (and extricating himself from) the most chaotic and absurd situations, Švejk represents, in his instinct for survival, all those human values that stand opposed to the utter futility of warfare.…