The Journal of a Voyage to Lisbon

When Fielding was winched aboard the Queen of Portugal bound for Lisbon in June 1754 he had small hope of surviving even the milder Portuguese winter. The author of Joseph Andrews and Tom Jones was 'dying from a complication of disorders' and the gravity of his illness sparks the unflinching humour and pathos of the Journal. In it Fielding scrutinizes his body's decay and the corruption of English society, undercutting with irony his own high claims for his former conduct as a London magistrate.