In 1880 he returned to Poland where he faced sadness in the death of his wife with the panacea of work upon his trilogy of historical romances of Poland. For eight years he worked winters in Warsaw at libraries and in his study, in summers in the Carpathian mountains. The results were the long, imaginative but strictly historical tales of _With Fire and Sword_, relating events from 1647 to 1651, _The Deluge_, from 1652 to 1657, and _Pan Michael_, dealing with the Turkish invasion and incidents from 1670 to 1674. This cycle of romances showed scholarship and dramatic ability, especially in the first and third stories of the trilogy. The background is panoramic; the dialogue is natural in most places. The author visualized individuals and the Polish people, under sentiments of distress, fear, love, conflict, and aspiration. The qualities of honor, patriotism, and faith are emphasized in these portrayals of Poland, under successive invasions of Cossacks, Swedes, and Turks. He idealized Poland and gave hope to his people. Modern Poland was the setting for his next series of tales, _Without Dogma_ and _Children of the Soil_. The former is pathological and tragic, the diary of Leon Ploszowski, aristocrat and bore, and his love for his cousin, Aneila. The vices of modern society and self-indulgent forces are in sharp contrast with the heroes of the trilogy. For many years he had studied early Christianity with its opposing force, Paganism. In 1896 he wrote his masterpiece, _Quo Vadis_, which has been called “an epochal book.” In many translations it was familiar to readers before the Nobel prize was given to its author. Of somewhat similar trend was the later brief message, _Let Us Follow Him_, which appeared in a single book and is included in the collection of stories and sketches, _Hania_, in translations by C. W. Dynicwicz, Jeremiah Curtin, and Casimir Gonski.[166] The confessed purpose of _Quo Vadis_ was to show “how God’s truth, because it is the only Truth, conquered pagan might.” The sustained interest in this religio-historical novel is not gained by melodrama or sensational intrigues. It has breadth and dignity. The characters vary in vividness but among the outstanding photographs are Paul and Petronius, Ursus and Chilo, and the girl captive, Ligeia. He called the tale “A Narrative of the Time of Nero.” The background was convincing but Nero was not successfully drawn; even such a master of characterization as Sienkiewicz could not make the Roman emperor vitally real to modern readers but he introduced several dramatic situations that center about his baffling personality. The question of the title, “Whither goest thou?” was asked of the modern world of unrest and discord, even as it was asked in the days of the apostles; the author felt the need of guides of to-day to hold up the banner of faith and service.