Gulliver's Travels

Gulliver's Travels, first published in 1726, is Jonathan Swift's best known novel. Throughout the four stories, ship's surgeon Gulliver travels to distant lands, meets strange new peoples like the diminutive Lilliputians and the gigantic Brobdingnags, defends his ship from a pirate attack, and is marooned on a deserted island. Written with disarming simplicity and careful attention to detail, this classic is diverse in its appeal. For children, it remains an enchanting fantasy. For adults, it is a witty parody of political life in Swift's time and a scathing send-up of manners and morals in 18th-century England.