A shipwreck brings Lemuel Gulliver to Lilliput, where he finds himself in a kingdom of tiny people. This experience is later reversed when he lands among the giants of Brobdingnag,. And yet more contrasts lie in store for him between the Houyhnhnms - a race of noble horses - and the savage sub-human Yahoos.
While politics and religion are prime targets for his satire, he also holds a mocking mirror to human nature in general.