The History and Adventures of an Atom by Tobias Smollett

Suggest and discuss books to read (all languages welcome!)
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InTheDesert
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Post by InTheDesert »

The History and Adventures of an Atom is a novel by Tobias Smollett, first published in 1769. The novel satirises English politics during the Seven Years' War.

The novel is an it-narrative, narrated by an atom in the body of a London haberdasher, who is the purported editor of the novel. The atom describes events it witnessed in ancient Japan, which are in fact allegories for British politics at the time of the novel's composition.

William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham appears as Taycho, and other politicians, monarchs and nations under a light disguise of made-up names. It includes some comments on the Kingdom of Great Britain's growing problems with its American colonies.

Many "keys" have been published to decode which characters are meant to represent real people.

Writing in 1821, Sir Walter Scott wrote, "The chief purpose of the work (besides that of giving the author the opportunity to raise his hand, like that of Ishmael, against every man) is to inspire a national horror of continental connexions."
https://archive.org/details/historyadventure02smol
https://archive.org/details/historyadventure01smol
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_History_and_Adventures_of_an_Atom
Medieval History Volume 02 The Rise of the Saracens and the Foundation of the Western Empire 99% 1 left! "The Carlovingian Revolution, and Frankish Intervention in Italy Part 3 by G. L. Burr"
DPL DPL 27 19 43
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