This book tells the story of how Flauberts admiration for Cervantes Don Quijote unfolded and how profoundly it shaped and influenced Flauberts ambition and his approach to all his major works beginning with his breakthrough novel Madame Bovary. It thus fills a major gap in the history of the novel and explores for the first time just what Flaubert meant when he said while writing Bovary Je retrouve toutes mes origins dans le livre que je savais par coeur avant de savoir lire Don Quichotte I can trace all my origins back to the book I knew by heart. Several cultural and personal factors converged to establish the prominent place of Don Quijote in Flauberts imagination and these are dealt with in depth in the book.