Telling how Rasselas and his companions escape from the bland pleasures of their perfectly happy valley in Abissinia to Egypt, to study how people live, the book is a parable and a pilgrimage in which all manner of subjects are discussed - flying machines, poetry, marriage, madness. Rasselas embodies Dr Johnsons most powerful and heart-warming qualities: his tragic sense of life, his justice, his wisdom which is never boring or solemn, and his miraculous ability to balance humour with sympathy in weighing up some of lifes more mysterious problems - what is happiness, and how can we find it?