"The Adventures of Roderick Random" by T. Smollett is a picaresque novel published in 1748. Born to a Scottish gentleman and cast out by his family, young Roderick Random must survive by his wits alone in eighteenth-century Britain. From London to the West Indies, he encounters malice, deception, and hypocrisy at every turn while pursuing wealthy women and seeking his rightful place as a gentleman. Drawing on Smollett's own naval experience, this satirical tale exposes the brutality and corruption of its age. (This is an automatically generated summary.)