Aimed at readers with little or no prior knowledge of Laurence Sterne or his writings, Simon Webb's book offers a brief but comprehensive biography of the author of Tristram Shandy and A Sentimental Journey, and includes up-to-date analyses of all his major works. This new study attempts to put Sterne, his writings and his characters in the context of the eighteenth century in Europe: a time of enlightenment, but also of ignorance, corruption and slavery.