The Charles Men tells of the fall of the Swedish empire, the desperate conditions of an inflexible ruler for what he believed to be true and right, the boundless suffering of an ill-fated people, the ravages of hunger which they endured their inevitable ruin and eternal glory. This unique work has been called a poem in prose and also a hymn on the beauty of Sweden's destruction under King Charles XII. Verner von Heidenstam (1859-1940) was the 1916 Nobel Laureate in Literature in recognition of his significance as the leading representative of a new era in Swedish literature.