Wieczny Grunwald (Eternal Grunwald)

My life, my struggle, my defeat.
It all started with this book!

A reissue of Szczepan Twardoch’s groundbreaking novel with an exceptionally frank, intimate afterword.
Wieczny Grunwald was published in 2010. With this novel, according to many critics, the era of Szczepan Twardoch began. It was in this work that he discovered his distinctive and unmistakable style. In the story of Paszko, we catch our first glimpse of the iconic characters who will later populate his most famous works. It is in this novel, after all, that Twardoch himself sees the turning point of his career. With the new edition in mind, he wrote a unique essay. Autobiographical, reflective, and deeply personal, it exposes the vulnerabilities he transformed into success.
Never before has he talked about his roots in such frank terms. About himself, about his body, about what makes up Szczepan Twardoch. What he fights for and who he is.
‘I am not fragile, my sensitivity is like that of a finely calibrated measuring instrument, so I am sensitive to reality, but not sensitive in the sense of fragile, easily destroyed. Quite the opposite, I’m fucking indestructible.’
At Grunwald, one of the Order’s knights – the son of the Polish king – dies. He dies, but he will live and die many more times. Death is only the beginning of Wieczny Grunwald.
It all starts with King Casimir raping the 14-year-old daughter of a Nuremberg merchant. When the royal bastard is born, his father is already dead. Paszko takes up residence in a brothel where his mother ends up. When she dies as well, the boy has no other possessions but a small knife, already stained with blood, and a scarf with the royal ‘K’ – the only symbol of his lineage. He sets off on a journey that will take him to the fields of Grunwald. ‘And all of this to find out who he is: a “royal bastard” or a “son of a whore?” ’ Knight or murderer? Polish or German? A hapless individualist or a common toy in the hands of history?

The description comes from the publisher’s website.