Gulliver's Travels and Other Writings

Considered one of English literature’s first and greatest satirists, Jonathan Swift possessed a timeless genius for pointing out the foibles of human nature that still has the power to provoke, amuse, and, at times, even outrage
our modern sensibilities. This representative collection of Swift’s major writings includes the complete Gulliver’s Travels as well as A Tale of a Tub, “The Battle of the Books,” “A Modest Proposal,” “An Argument Against Abolishing Christianity,” “The Bickerstaff Papers,” and many more of his brilliantly satirical works. Here too are selections from Swift’s poetry and portions of his Journal to Stella. Swift’s savage ridicule, corrosive wit, and sparkling humor are fully displayed in this comprehensive collection.

Jonathan Swift was born in 1667, the son of Anglo-Irish parents. After an education in Ireland, Swift moved to England where he reluctantly chose a career in the church. There, he worked for Sir William Temple, in whose household he met Esther Johnson. The two fell in love, but were never publicly married. While in England, Swift discovered his talents as a satirist, producing texts such as "A Tale Of A Tub" and "The Battle of the Books" (1704). At age thirty-one, Swift returned to Ireland as chaplain to a lord justice. Swift maintained his energy and wit and, later in life, wrote "A Modest Proposal" (1729) and GULLIVER'S TRAVELS (1726). Swift died on October 19, 1745.