Classic
Gulliver's Travels
by Jonathan Swift
Summary
Ship's surgeon Lemuel Gulliver washes ashore among the tiny people of Lilliput, then travels to the giants of Brobdingnag, the floating island of Laputa, and the horse ruled land of the Houyhnhnms. Swift uses each voyage to satirize English politics, science, and human vanity, sharpening his attacks as the book progresses toward a bleak view of human nature. What reads as a children's adventure on the surface carries some of the fiercest satire in the language underneath.
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Historical Context & Significance
Swift published the book anonymously in 1726 to avoid political retaliation, and it became a sensation that was read at every level of society. Its inventions, from Lilliputians to Yahoos, have entered everyday language as shorthand for pettiness and brutishness.