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Clean life of a master satirist; Jonathan Swift. By Victoria Glendinning. (Hutchinson, pounds 20). Reviewed by Christine Barker.

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From: The Birmingham Post (England)
Date: 19980905
Author:Barker, Christine

In 18th century England, satire was a common currency. Society drawing rooms were a breeding ground for the most scurrilous gossip as society ladies whispered behind their fans and their foppish menfolk embroidered the innuendo.

Outside, in the coffee houses, it was the political intrigues that got an airing as the early dawning of the national press began to glow on the horizon; Grub Street prepared to make its mark; and the pamphleteers and lampoonists plied their murky trade.

Much of it was libellous rubbish. But for one man, it was a way of marking his general ...

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