This edition of Jonathan Swift's basic works contains the authoritative texts of all his most important prose writings as well as many shorter pieces, poems, and letter extracts. Included are "Gulliver's Travels, Swift's devastating picture of human nature and human foibles; "A Tale of a Tub, his scathing attack on the intellectual culture and religious excesses of his time; "The Battel of the Books, his defense of the classical tradition; and the unforgettable "Modest Proposal, in which he proposes that the Irish, in order to avoid starvation, eat their children.

The book's focus is the major satires upon which Swift's literary reputation principally rest including 'A Tale of Tub', 'An Argument Against Abolishing Christianity', 'Gulliver's Travels', 'A Modest Proposal' and more. This critical analysis highlights the extremism of Swiftian satire and its off page menaces.

This edition presents Jonathan Swift's most important Irish writings in both prose and verse, together with an introduction, head notes and annotations that shed new light on the full context and significance of each piece. Familiar works such as "Gulliver's Travels" and "A Tale of a Tub" acquire new and deeper meanings when considered within the Irish frameworks presented in the edition. Differing in noteworthy ways from the more traditional, canonical, Anglocentric picture conveyed by other published volumes, the Swift that emerges from these pages is a brilliant polemicist, popular satirist, political agitator, playful versifier, tormented Jeremiah, and Irish patriot.

This authoritative edition brings together a unique selection from the full range of Swift's fifty-year career--prose, poetry, and letters--to give the essence of his work and thinking. Jonathan Swift (1667-1745) is best known as the author of Gulliver's Travels, which alone would have secured his place in the history of English literature. But in addition to this classic fictional satire, Swift wrote numerous works concerning politics, religion, and Ireland, some savage, others humorous, all suffused with his tremendous wit and inventiveness. This anthology includes satirical works such as A Tale of a Tub and The Battle of the Books, political pamphlets, pieces for the popular press, poems, and a generous selection from Swift's correspondence. Presented chronologically, the anthology offers a new and clearer awareness of the unity as well as the complexity of Swift's vision, and the powerful bonds between disparate pieces.