Jonathan Swift's Gulliver
Publisher: Walker Books
This focused and lively retelling retains all of Gulliver's adventures, remaining true to the spirit of the original but adding a modern-day pacing and clarity.
Gulliver's encounters with the diminutive Lilliputions, the giant Brobdingnagians, absurd scientists, the barbarian Yahoos and the admirable Houyhnhnms are sharp vehicles for satire of individuals, institutions and states.
The ludicrousness of human behaviour, ambitions and self-satisfactions are illuminated in Riddell's superb hatched-line and colour illustrations.
Will today's young read it from cover to cover? Maybe not – at least not at one sitting, but the pictures could be pored over for hours, and ultimately they keep this classic relevant today.
