The histories of Gargantua and Pantagruel

Francios Rabelais (c. 1494-1553), a Franciscan monk who also qualified as a Bachelor of Medicine, was at the centre of the humanist movement and had absorbed a vast amount of learning.

Gargantua and Pantagruel parodies everyone from eminent classical authors and schoolmen to Rabelais's own acquaintances.

But the brilliance of the book lies not merely in these learned references, but in the seamless story into which they are woven, and in the passion and swiftness of language of an acknowledged master of satire.