Gulliver's Travels

Publisher Marketing: The book begins with a short preamble in which Lemuel Gulliver, in the style of books of the time, gives a brief outline of his life and history before his voyages. He enjoys travelling, although it is that love of travel that is his downfall. During his first voyage, Gulliver is washed ashore after a shipwreck and finds himself a prisoner of a race of tiny people, less than 6 inches tall, who are inhabitants of the island country of Lilliput. After giving assurances of his good behaviour, he is given a residence in Lilliput and becomes a favourite of the court. From there, the book follows Gulliver's observations on the Court of Lilliput. He is also given the permission to roam around the city on a condition that he must not harm their subjects. Gulliver assists the Lilliputians to subdue their neighbours, the Blefuscudians, by stealing their fleet. However, he refuses to reduce the island nation of Blefuscu to a province of Lilliput, displeasing the King and the court. Gulliver is charged with treason for, among other "crimes," "making water" in the capital (even though he was putting out a fire and saving countless lives). He is convicted and sentenced to be blinded, but with the assistance of a kind friend, he escapes to Blefuscu. Here he spots and retrieves an abandoned boat and sails out to be rescued by a passing ship, which safely takes him back home. This book of the Travels is a topical political satire. Review Citations: Hornbook Guide to Children 10/01/2008 pg. 347 (EAN 9781402743399, Hardcover) Hornbook Guide to Children 07/01/2008 pg. 347 (EAN 9781402743399, Hardcover) Wilson Middle/Junior Hi Catalo 01/01/2009 pg. 1019 (EAN 9781402743399, Hardcover) Hornbook Guide to Children 07/01/2006 pg. 327 (EAN 9781402726620, Hardcover) Booklist 11/15/1992 pg. 599 (EAN 9780192798978, Hardcover) Hornbook Guide to Children 01/01/1992 (EAN 9780192798978, Hardcover) Newsweek 07/21/2008 pg. 16 (EAN 9780140382402, Paperback) Hornbook Guide to Children 01/01/1990 (EAN 9780816718665, Paperback) Hornbook Guide to Children 01/01/1990 (EAN 9780816718658, Hardcover) School Library Journal 02/01/2001 (EAN 9780001052413, Analog Audio Cassette) Wilson Fiction Catalog 01/01/2006 pg. 905 (EAN 9780679405450, Hardcover) Wilson Fiction Catalog 01/01/2010 pg. 900 (EAN 9780679405450, Hardcover) Wilson Senior High Core Col 01/01/2011 pg. 1070 (EAN 9780679405450, Hardcover) Hornbook Guide to Children 01/01/2000 pg. 313 (EAN 9780789453075, Hardcover) Hornbook Guide to Children 07/01/2000 pg. 313 (EAN 9780789453075, Hardcover) Ingram Paperback Advance 06/01/1999 pg. 42 (EAN 9780451527325, Mass Market Paperbound) Choice 06/01/2013 (EAN 9780521841641, Hardcover) Books & Culture 07/01/2014 pg. 30 (EAN 9780521841641, Hardcover) Audio File 12/01/2010 pg. 58 (EAN 9781843794196, Compact Disc) School Library Journal 09/01/2011 pg. 190 (EAN 9789380028507, Paperback) Hornbook Guide to Children 07/01/2010 pg. 327 (EAN 9780375965692, Library Binding) Hornbook Guide to Children 07/01/2010 pg. 327 (EAN 9780375865695, Paperback) Contributor Bio:  Swift, Jonathan Born in 1667, Jonathan Swift was an Irish writer and cleric, best known for his works Gulliver's Travels, A Modest Proposal, and A Journal to Stella, amongst many others. Educated at Trinity College in Dublin, Swift received his Doctor of Divinity in February 1702, and eventually became Dean of St. Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin. Publishing under the names of Lemeul Gulliver, Isaac Bickerstaff, and M. B. Drapier, Swift was a prolific writer who, in addition to his prose works, composed poetry, essays, and political pamphlets for both the Whigs and the Tories, and is considered to be one of the foremost English-language satirists, mastering both the Horatian and Juvenalian styles. Swift died in 1745, leaving the bulk of his fortune to found St. Patrick's Hospital for Imbeciles, a hospital for the mentally ill, which continues to operate as a psychiatric hospital today.