The Adventures of Gil Blas of Santillane, Volume 2 (of 3)

The picaresque novel that invented the modern everyman hero. Gil Blas is no knight errant - he's a sharp-tongued young man who survives by his wits alone, and Volume 2 finds him plunging deeper into a world where every hand is against you. After fleeing the corrupt chaplain's service, he falls in with Captain Rolando's band of thieves, learning the brutal economics of crime before his conscience - or at least his ambition - drives him elsewhere. His fortunes take another turn when the powerful Duke of Lerma hires him as a secretary, thrusting him into the glittering snake pit of the Spanish court. Here, the real robbery isn't on the highway - it's in the drawing rooms, where political intrigue is the currency and everyone wears a mask. Gil Blas climbs, lies, and adapts, asking the uncomfortable question that still resonates: what does it cost to make it in a corrupt world, and can you ever pay it back?