The Good Soldier Švejk

The Good Soldier Švejk is the classic novel of the 'little man' fighting officialdom and bureaucracy with the only weapons available to him - passive resistance, subterfuge, native wit and dumb insolence.

Here, with all its blasphemy and bawdiness restored, is the immortal tale of the good-hearted, garrulous progress of the only loyal Czech in the Austrian army of 1914. Enmeshed in red tape, chivvied by police, doctors, clergy and officers, and ever-obliging, the good soldier (once discharged as an idiot) ploughs his irresistible furrow towards the crowning moment when he is captured by his own troops.

Hasek's most important work was centered around the deeply funny story of a hapless Czech soldier in the Austro-Hungarian army -- dismissed for incompetence only to be pressed into service by the Russians in World War I (where he is captured by his own troops). A mischief-maker, bohemian and drunk, Hasek demonstrated his wit in this classic novel of the Czech character and preposterous nature of war.