"The action of the novel unfolds in 1889 in Crete, where the subjugated Greeks attempt a new uprising to free themselves from the Turkish yoke. Kazantzakis depicts the drama that grips an entire people, giving each phase a vivid relief and an intensity that makes all the individual episodes unforgettable, most of them tragic, although the author often skillfully introduces a humorous note.

In the city of Heraklion, in the 'Great Castle,' and its surroundings, Kazantzakis vividly portrays everyone and everything, but only one of the protagonists dominates the action: Captain Michalis. He is the son of Captain Sifakas, a vigorous centenarian who, during his long life, has seen Crete rise up seven times, bathe in blood again and again, and fall back under Ottoman rule. While the old man sets out to learn the alphabet to write the fateful and prophetic words: 'freedom or death,' Captain Michalis, whom everyone loves and fears, leads the uprising. However, an irresistible passion, for which he feels ashamed, drives him to abandon his position in the struggle for a while. He later atones for this guilt by stabbing the contentious woman and sacrificing his life for the glory of immortal Crete.

However, none of the characters in the book are as strong and consistently present in the narrative as Crete itself, the wild island, for which no one knows whether it loves or despises its own children and which will defeat 'Turkey' with its pain. Despite the numerous episodes of violence and brutality, the entire novel is imbued with an atmosphere of exquisite poetry and legend."

(From the Italian edition Nikos Kazantzakis, "Capitan Michele," Aldo Martello Editore, Milan 1959.)

When I began writing 'Captain Michalis' in my old age, my hidden purpose was this: to save, by clothing it in words, the vision of the world as my childhood eyes created it. And when I say the vision of the world, I mean the vision of Crete. I don't know what was happening at that time to the other children of liberated Greece, but the children of Crete breathed a tragic air during the heroic and martyrdom years of Captain Michalis, when the Turks still trod our soil and the blood-stained wings of Freedom began to be heard approaching. In this critical transitional moment, full of fever and hopes, the children of Crete quickly became men. The sleepless concerns of the adults around them for the homeland, for freedom, for the God who protects Christians, for the God who raises his sword to drive out the Turks, overshadowed the usual joys and sorrows of childhood.

From a very early age, living in the ever-ready-to-erupt conflict, we had an inkling that in this world two great forces struggle: the Christian and the Turk, Good and Evil, Freedom and Tyranny, and that life is not a game, it is a struggle. And also this: that the day would come when we too would have to join the fight. We had decided from a very young age that it was our destiny, since we were born Cretans, that this Must would govern our lives."

(from the author's preface)