Rasselas - Softcover

Rasselas was written within the space of a week at the beginning of 1759 to enable Johnson to raise money to pay the costs of his mother's funeral, and first published in April that year. Influenced by the vogue for exotic locations, Johnson set his "philosophical romance" in Abyssinia, and uses the story of Prince Rasselas's travels to question whether humanity is essentially capable of attaining happiness.