Adventures of Roderick Random

Tobias George Smollett (1721-1771) was a Scottish author, best known for his picaresque novels, such as The Adventures of Roderick Random (1748) and The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle (1753). He was educated at the University of Glasgow qualifying as a surgeon. His career in medicine came second to his literary ambitions, and in 1739 he went to London to seek his fortune as a dramatist. His first published work was a poem entitled "The Tears of Scotland," but it was The Adventures of Roderick Random which made his name. In 1756, he became editor of The Critical Review. Smollett then began what he regarded as his major work, A Complete History of England, which took from 1757 to 1765. He also wrote The History and Adventures of an Atom (1769), which give his view of English politics during the Seven Years' War under the guise of a tale from ancient Japan. Amongst his other works are Travels Through France and Italy (1766) and The Expedition of Humphrey Clinker (1771).