Swift's Irish Pamphlets: An Introductory Selection

by Jonathan Swift

This volume collects, for the first time, Jonathan Swift's major writings on Ireland and on Irish affairs, including the Story of an Injured Lady (1707) on Anglo-Irish relations after the union between England and Scotland; a number of the Drapier's Letters, in which he assumed the persona of M.B. Drapier to voice his countrymen's outrage at English insensitivity in dealing with Ireland; and the astonishing Modest Proposal seen here as a satirically logical outcome of the refusal of the authorities to heed his earlier pamphlets or alleviate the desperate straits in which Ireland found itself. Scholars of Irish and Anglo-Irish literature, students of history, and anyone who enjoys a biting, incisive prose style will welcome this collection of the best of Swift's Irish writings. 'This excellent selection shows Swift as a political man of his time, writing with savage eloquence about specific issues of the day... A salutary collection that takes literature into the bustle of the public realm.' The Observer

188 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1990

About the author

Jonathan Swift was an Anglo-Irish satirist, author, essayist, political pamphleteer (first for the Whigs, then for the Tories), poet, and Anglican cleric who became Dean of St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, hence his common sobriquet, "Dean Swift".
Swift is remembered for works such as A Tale of a Tub (1704), An Argument Against Abolishing Christianity (1712), Gulliver's Travels (1726), and A Modest Proposal (1729). He is regarded by the Encyclopædia Britannica as the foremost prose satirist in the English language. He originally published all of his works under pseudonyms—such as Lemuel Gulliver, Isaac Bickerstaff, M.B. Drapier—or anonymously. He was a master of two styles of satire, the Horatian and Juvenalian styles.
His deadpan, ironic writing style, particularly in A Modest Proposal, has led to such satire being subsequently termed "Swiftian".

Reviews

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading Swift's pamphlets with Defoe's "The Shortest Way with Dissenters" will convince you that Swift got off scot-free for his political criticism while Defoe got pilloried because just wasn't as smart or funny.