Miguel de Cervantes Saaverda's (1547-1616) life was occupied with a struggle to earn a livelihood from literature and humble government employment. As well as Don Quixote, he wrote a number of plays and a collection of highly accomplished short stories, Exemplary Tales (1613).

John Rutherford is a Fellow of the Queen's College Oxford and a Senior Lecturer in Spanish and Spanish American literature. He has translated Leopoldo's La Regenta for Penguin Classics.