Jonathan Swift (1667 - 1745) was an Anglo-Irish satirist, essayist, political pamphleteer (first for the Whigs, then for the Tories), poet and cleric who became Dean of St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin. 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 and is less well known for his poetry. He originally published all of his works under pseudonyms - such as Lemuel Gulliver, Isaac Bickerstaff, the 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".

The first fully annotated, contextualised, and textually authoritative edition of Swift's Irish prose writings from 1726 to 1738.

List of illustrations; General editors' preface; Acknowledgements; Chronology; List of abbreviations; Introduction; Irish political writings after 1725; Associated materials: 1. Hints for Intelligencer Papers, and Maxims Examined; 2. Letter to the Printer of Thoughts on the Tillage of Ireland; Appendices: A. Memorial of the Poor Inhabitants of Ireland; B. The Craftsman's First Letter of Advice, 7 November 1730; C. The Case of the Woollen Manufacturers; D. To The Author of those Intelligencers Printed at Dublin; E. Dublin Weekly Journal, Saturday, June 7th, 1729; Textual introduction; Textual accounts of individual works; Bibliography; Index.