Hogarth was one of the great eighteenth-century painters, a marvellous colourist and innovator at all levels of artistic expression. As a man he was rooted in his own time and his own society. We 'read' his satirical works - The Rake's Progress, Marriage-a-la-Mode - as we read a novel, and our pleasure increases with the number of details we notice and hidden jokes we understand. David Bindman provides an illuminating guide to the satires and a vivid and incisive study of the man and his art. 'As a clear and well-conceived introduction to Hogarth's exuberant and complex appeal this concise study is to be warmly welcomed' (The Times Literary Supplement) 'David Bindman's text is clear and informative and the illustrations numerous and of good quality' (The Spectator) 'Excellent ... He is very good on the engraved series ... and in describing Hogarth's character' (Apollo)