Miguel de Cervantes’ 'Don Quixote' (published in two parts in 1605 and 1615) is widely considered the first modern novel. It tells the story of an elderly nobleman who becomes so obsessed with chivalric romances that he loses his mind and sets out to revive knighthood. Alongside his pragmatic squire, Sancho Panza, Quixote embarks on a series of delusional adventures, most famously 'tilting at windmills' that he believes are giants. The book was revolutionary for its use of realism, meta-fiction (characters in Part 2 know they were in a book in Part 1), and its deep psychological insight. Cervantes wrote much of the book while in prison or struggling with debt. Today, the word 'quixotic' has entered the English language to describe someone who is idealistic to an impractical degree.