Jonathan Swift - has been generally acknowledged as the greatest English satirist. In a prodigious stream of letters, pamphlets, tales, and essays, he assailed, with irony, erudition, and savage wit, several of the abuses and vices he saw around him, including political corruption, religious intolerance, hypocrisy, and the decline of learning. These selections from Swifts greatest writings include some of his best-known pieces against organized religion and the English oppression of Ireland A Tale of a Tub A Tritical Essay A Meditation upon a Broomstick Thoughts on Various Subjects An Argument against Abolishing Christianity in England A Discourse concerning the Mechanical Operation of the Spirit Drapier letters nos. and On Political Lying A Character, Panegyric, and Description of the Legion Club and A Modest Proposal.
