Wonderfully colorful and dark at the same time, Perutz portrays the world in "The Swedish Rider," which instantly transports the reader to the year 1700. The novel tells the intertwined fate of two unequal men: war and barbarism dominate the scene where a nameless vagabond and the deserted Swedish officer Christian von Tornefeld meet. One adopts the identity of the other with cunning and deceit, but also out of love for a young woman.