Don Quixote of La Mancha was written in the 17th century by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, a Spanish poet, novelist and playwright born in Alcalá de Henares around 1547. He is considered to be the greatest Spanish writer of all time, and one of the best worldwide.

In the prologue to the Exemplary Novels Cervantes describes himself:

"The man you see before you, with aquiline features, chestnut-coloured hair, smooth and unwrinkled brow, bright eyes and curved though well-proportioned nose, silver beard that not twenty years ago was golden, large moustache, small mouth, teeth neither large nor small since he boasts only six of them, and those he has are in poor condition and even worse positions, for not one of them cuts against another; he has medium build, neither tall nor short, a healthy colour in his cheeks, fair rather than dark complexion, slightly stooping, and not very light on his feet. This, then, is a description of the author of "La Galatea" and "Don Quixote of la Mancha" and the man who wrote "Journey to Parnassus", which was modelled on the one by César Caporal Perusino,and other works which have gone astray, perhaps without their owner's name upon them. He is commonly known as Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra. He was for many years a soldier and a prisoner for five and a half after that, during which time he learned to cultivate patience in adversity. He lost his left hand in the naval battle of Lepanto to a blunderbuss shot, and although the injury is ugly he considers it beautiful because he incurred it at the most noble and memorable event that past centuries have seen or future generations can ever hope to witness, fighting beneath the victorious banners of the son of that thunderbolt of war, Charles V of happy memory."

He had turned 50 years old, and was the author of several works of poetry, plays and novels, when he published "The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha". It brought him immediate acclaim, though it did not free him from the financial difficulties that dominated most of his life. Not many years later came the publication of the copy written by Alonso Fernández de Avellaneda, and this spurred Cervantes on to completing the second part of Don Quixote. This was published in 1615 and contains frequent allusions to the "false Quixote".

""...The alcalde of the village came by chance into the inn together with a notary, and Don Quixote laid a petition before him, showing that it was requisite for his rights that Don Alvaro Tarfe, the gentleman there present, should make a declaration before him that he did not know Don Quixote of La Mancha, also there present, and that he was not the one that was in print in a history entitled "Second Part of Don Quixote of La Mancha, by one Avellaneda of Tordesillas."

He died on April 23rd 1616. The day has been declared by the UNESCO to be World Book Day.