Jonathan Swift

Gulliver's Travels is one of the landmarks of world literature. Gulliver's adventures with the tiny but spirited Lilliputians, the giant inhabitants of Brobdingnag, the flying island of Laputa, and the rational horses of Houyhnmhnmland have become globally famous for their satirical wit and visionary creativity. Early editions credited Gulliver himself as the author, and many readers believed him to be a real person. Later commentators have variously described the work as proto-science fiction, as inspired children's literature and as a forerunner of the modern novel. The editor's introduction to this celebratory anniversary edition contextualises Gulliver's Travels in Swift's life and work as a whole while exploring its rich and remarkable afterlife. All the original illustrations and maps are included, as are the frontispiece portraits. Generous annotation explains textual details which might now seem obscure, and appendices contain additional documents and images to enhance contemporary understanding and enjoyment.

When Lemuel Gulliver, an unassuming ship's surgeon, sets sail on what he assumes will be ordinary voyages, he instead finds himself carried to extraordinary worlds. From the tiny yet politically turbulent kingdom of Lilliput to the land of giants in Brobdingnag, from the floating island of Laputa to the rational but unsettling realm of the Houyhnhnms, Gulliver becomes both witness to and participant in a series of fantastical societies. Through these encounters, he is forced to question the world he thought he knew. Gulliver's Travels is a razor-sharp satire wrapped in adventure. Swift's blend of humour, irony, and acute social observation has secured the novel's lasting place in English literature, offering both entertainment and incisive critique. This edition, based on the text of the 1726 first edition, contains all the original illustrations. JONATHAN SWIFT [1667–1745] was an Anglo-Irish satirist, cleric, and essayist renowned for his command of irony and political commentary. His works include Gulliver's Travels [1726], A Modest Proposal [1729], and numerous pamphlets and poems, all marked by their pointed examination of social and political issues. His writing helped shape the development of modern satire and established him as a major figure in 18th-century literature.

Lemjuel Gulliver, morskoj puteshestvennik iz Anglii, perezhil mnozhestvo udivitelnykh prikljuchenij. Snachala emu dovelos pobyvat v plenu u liliputov - kroshechnykh zhitelej strany Liliputija, a posle sudba zabrosila ego v korolevstvo Brobdingneg - stranu velikanov. Po sravneniju s liliputami Gulliver kazalsja vysokim, kak gora, i neverojatno silnym. No pri dvore korolja velikanov opasnosti okruzhali Gullivera so vsekh storon - dazhe obyknovennaja tarelka supa grozila emu bedoj. Sredi liliputov Gulliver proslavilsja kak nepobedimyj geroj, a v strane velikanov sam prevratilsja v bezzaschitnogo malenkogo chelovechka. No nesmotrja na vse ispytanija, geroj etoj knigi sumel ostatsja samim soboj: smelym, izobretatelnym, nakhodchivym i ostroumnym.