With Fire and Sword

With Fire and Sword

Title page of an 1885 edition
Author	Henryk Sienkiewicz
Original title	Ogniem i mieczem
Country	Poland
Language	Polish
Series	The Trilogy
Genre	Historical novel
Publication date	1884
Followed by	The Deluge, Fire in the Steppe

With Fire and Sword (Polish: Ogniem i mieczem) is a historical novel by the Polish author Henryk Sienkiewicz, published in 1884. It is the first volume of a series known to Poles as The Trilogy, followed by The Deluge (Potop, 1886) and Fire in the Steppe (originally published under the Polish title Pan Wołodyjowski, which translates to Colonel Wolodyjowski). The novel has been adapted as a film several times, most recently in 1999.

With Fire and Sword is a historical fiction novel, set in the 17th century in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth during the Khmelnytsky Uprising. It was initially serialized in several Polish newspapers, chapters appearing in weekly installments. It gained enormous popularity in Poland, and by the turn of the 20th century had become one of the most popular Polish books ever. It became obligatory reading in Polish schools, and has been translated into English and most European languages.

The series was a vehicle for expressing Polish patriotism in a Poland partitioned and deprived of independence. It avoided censorship by using a historical setting concerning wars with past enemies other than the countries ruling parts of Poland at the time of writing (Russia, Germany and Austria).

Despite some deviations, the book's historical framework is genuine and the fictional story is woven into real events. Many characters are historical figures, including Jeremi Wiśniowiecki and Bohdan Khmelnytsky (Polish: Bohdan Chmielnicki). Sienkiewicz researched memoirs and chronicles of the Polish nobility, or szlachta, for details on life in 17th-century Poland. The book was written, according to the author, "to lift up the heart" of the Polish nation in the unhappy period following the failed January Uprising during the era of the partitions of Poland. Thus it often favors epic plots and heroic scenes over historical accuracy. Nonetheless, Sienkiewicz's vivid language made it one of the most popular books about that particular place and era.