Portrait of Lord Melvyn Bragg, host of In Our Time

Jonathan Swift

Jonathan Swift (30 November 1667 – 19 October 1745) 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).

2 episodes

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  1. Swift's A Modest Proposal

    Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Jonathan Swift's satirical 1729 pamphlet A Modest Proposal, which reveals much about attitudes to the Irish and the poor in 18th-Century Britain.

    29 January 2009

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    Featuring: John Mullan, Judith Hawley, Ian McBride

     
  2. The Scriblerus Club

    Melvyn Bragg discusses the Scriblerus Club which included some of the sharpest satirists of the 18th century.

    9 June 2005

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    Featuring: John Mullan, Judith Hawley, Marcus Walsh