The Citizen of the World, Or, Letters from a Chinese Philosopher Residing in London to His Friends in the East

The Citizen of the World, Or, Letters from a Chinese Philosopher Residing in London to His Friends in the East is Oliver Goldsmith's witty series of fictional letters observing British society from an outsider's perspective. Through the Chinese philosopher Lien Chi Altangi, Goldsmith turns London customs, manners, politics, poverty, fashion, and literary life into objects of comic scrutiny.

The book belongs to the eighteenth-century tradition of satirical travel and foreign observer narratives, using distance to make the familiar strange. Goldsmith's tone is lighter than Swift's but still morally alert, exposing absurdity without losing sympathy. Readers interested in essays, epistolary satire, Enlightenment cosmopolitanism, London life, and social criticism will find The Citizen of the World intelligent and entertaining.