The History of England in Three Volumes, Vol.II. From William and Mary to George II. Tobias George Smollett (1721 -1771) was a Scottish poet and author. He was best known for his picaresque novels, such as The Adventures of Roderick Random (1748) and The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle (1751), which influenced later novelists such as Charles Dickens and George Orwell.