Gulliver’s Travels

Swift’s scornful satire, written “to vex the world rather than divert it”, takes a caustic look at those most contemporary concerns irrational prejudice, social inequality, ivory tower elitism and the correct way to open a boiled egg. 'I cannot but conclude the bulk of your natives to be the most pernicious race of little odious vermin that nature ever suffered to crawl upon the surface of the earth.' Shipwrecked on the high seas, Lemuel Gulliver finds himself washed up on the strange island of Lilliput, a land inhabited by quarrelsome miniature people. On his travels he continues to meet others who force him to reflect on human behaviour - the giants of Brobdingnag, the Houyhnhnms and the Yahoos. In this scathing satire on the politics and morals of the 18th Century, Swift's condemnation of society and its institutions still resonates today. Swift's literary form of humour, best described as a scathing critique, continues to top the charts of fiction and essays. His unique approach to addressing contemporary concerns through the lens of Gulliver's travels resonates with readers even today. For fans of Mark Twain (Adventures of Huckleberry Finn), Mary Shelley (Frankenstein), Majestic Classics (Dracula Illustrated), Alexandre Dumas (The Count of Monte Cristo), and Jane Austen (Mansfield Park).