First serialized in 1897 and published in book form in 1900, 'The Knights of the Cross' is Henryk Sienkiewicz's final masterpiece of historical romance — the story of young Zbyszko of Bogdaniec, a hot-headed Polish knight whose rash vow against the Teutonic Order entangles him in a web of honor, love, and vengeance. Alongside his uncle Maćko, the gentle Danusia, and the formidable Jurand of Spychów, Zbyszko moves through a Poland-Lithuania gathering its strength for the reckoning that will come on the fields of Grunwald in 1410. Sienkiewicz, the 1905 Nobel laureate, blends meticulous period detail with breathless adventure, painting the twilight of chivalry in colors that have stirred readers for more than a century. This edition presents the complete, unabridged original text, together with a new introduction and reader's notes illuminating the history behind the fiction. Part of The Founding Texts Library.