Gulliver's Travels

A wickedly clever satire uses comic inversions to offer insights into human nature and society. Nominated as one of America’s best-loved novels by PBS’s The Great American Read, it follows the four voyages of Lemuel Gulliver, a ship's surgeon. In Lilliput, he discovers a miniature world, towering over its inhabitants and observing their society from a god-like perspective. Conversely, in Brobdingnag, Gulliver becomes the curiosity, displayed in markets as a tiny man among giants. His journey continues to Laputa, a flying island where he encounters a society of speculators detached from reality, allowing their homeland to fall into disrepair while they obsess over impractical ideas. Finally, he reaches the land of the Houyhnhnms, gentle horses he admires, contrasting sharply with the Yahoos, filthy creatures resembling humans. This text, based on the original 1726 edition, includes all original illustrations and an introduction by Robert Demaria, Jr., discussing the interpretations of the work since its publication. Jonathan Swift (1667-1745), born in Dublin, crafted this enduring classic. For over seventy years, Penguin has been a leading publisher of classic literature, offering authoritative texts enhanced by distinguished introductions and notes, as well as contemporary translations.