Gulliver's Travels (1726) is a work of fiction pseudonymously authored by the British satiristJonathan Swift. Posing as "Dr. Lemuel Gulliver", he purported to report his travels to a series of strange cultures. This mimicked a style of travel reporting that was common at the time, including the outright invention of outlandish and "savage" cultures deliberately designed to shock Englishmen in particular. The travel fantasy Robinson Crusoe, by Daniel Defoe, it is useful to recall, had been published only a few years previously, to universal acclaim.
"Travels into Several Remote nations of the World by 'English sea-captain Lemuel Gulliver'", or Gulliver's Travels is sometimes perceived as a story for children. It is generally thought to be concerned with Lemuel Gulliver's adventures in Lilliput and Blefuscu, where the protagonist is surrounded by people 6 inches tall (15cm). This, however, is a supreme irony since this overlooks the fact that this is one of the most coruscating satires on morals and behaviour ever written. It still stands as one of the great and timeless satires of all time, and one of the best primers ever written on political science, such as it exists. It anticipated many current debates in law (versus precedent), philosophy of mathematics, the seeking of human immortality, personhood and animal rights.
Lilliput, the first part, is concerned with Gulliver's supposed adventure in a land where everyone is small, and their concerns very small and petty, but are relatively morally upright, God-fearing, and honest, like the stereotype of English country people of Swift's time. It is essentially a utopia which Gulliver is obligated to protect, settling disputes by acting as a militarily invincible giant, then seeking to intervene to make peace. Some think that Swift was idealizing the role of Britain and its sea power in the world as it was then, in the 18th century, not very long after the beginnings of the British Empire.
Brobdingnag, the second part, moves Gulliver to a realm of giants where everything is huge, and the people extremely crude and greedy, as Swift had perceived British aristocrats. Nonetheless, they are astonished at Gulliver's account of English law.
Laputa, BALNIBARBI, LUGGNAGG, GLUBBDUBDRIB, and JAPAN, are all covered in the third book, which satirizes among other things academia and science. It is widely supposed that Laputa was a strict satire of the Royal Society, which Isaac Newton also despised.
Houyhnhnm, the final book, relates the story of the author among a race of noble and intelligent horses, whose society is peaceful and ideal and noble in every way.
This is by contrast to the dirty foul hairy creatures called Yahoos, who plague them, and who are a deliberate satire of the human race itself. The horses are astounded to find a Yahoo even as cultured as an Englishmen (lawyers and all), and entertain him until they realize that ultimately, he, too, is a Yahoo. The Yahoo Internet refers to its users as "Yahoos" in honor of this view of humanity, which Yahoo's original business plan claimed it was fully willing to indulge. Some would argue that given their current list of most common search terms, they have admirably and totally succeeded. Others would argue that they cannot succeed in totally emulating Gulliver's Yahoos until it is actually possible to kill someone through the service...
