Jonathan swift biography summary of winston churchill

A review of Jonathan Swift: His Life and His World, by Leo Damrosch

Jonathan Swift was one of the most secretive men who ever lived, the Howard Hughes of 18th-century Britain. Given how well-known his name is today, it comes as a surprise to learn that most of his writings were initially published anonymously. Deeply involved in the vicious pamphlet wars of British politics, he had to protect himself against prosecution for libel and sedition. Aware that government spies were reading his mail, Swift denied even in letters to his closest friends that he wrote his most controversial works.

For a public figure, he also managed to keep his private life remarkably secret. The details of his birth and childhood are shrouded in mystery, complete with a puzzling tale—straight out of an operetta—of his having been kidnapped as an infant by a wet nurse. Evidently the great love of Swift’s life was a woman he referred to as Stella (real name: Hester or Esther Johnson), but we do not know whether they were ever married or not; we do not even know whether they had sexual relations or not (contemporary witnesses gave contradictory evidence).

Swift was a distinguished Protestant cleric and rose to being dean of St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin. One would expect a prominent churchman to be orthodox in his religious beliefs. But Swift was closely associated with the most notorious freethinker of his day, Henry St. John, Viscount Bolingbroke, and some of his contemporaries publicly questioned Swift’s religious orthodoxy.

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All of this secrecy and mystery obviously complicates the task of a Swift biographer. Leo Damrosch, who teaches literature at Harvard University, has risen to the challenge in a carefully researched book that re-opens the questions surrounding Swift’s life in light of recent scholarly developments. For example, Damrosch takes seriously Irish literary critic Denis Johnston&rsq

3Churchill was the author of a considerable number of history books, the most substantial part of which was written and published between the late 1920s and the mid-1950s: The World Crisis (1923-31), The Life and Times of Marlborough (1933-38), The Second World War (1948-53) and A History of the English-speaking Peoples, a grand epic on the history of the British nation that Churchill began writing in late 1938, only publish

‘Excellent summation … The fundamentals of Churchill’s extraordinary life stand out true and clear, and his example of leadership is revived for a new generation’ International Churchill Society

In Winston Churchill, veteran historian Peter Caddick-Adams gives us an overview of Churchill’s life, from his early days as a soldier and part-time journalist through to the Second World War and beyond.

Caddick-Adams argues that the recipe for Churchill’s success during his wartime premiership of 1940-45 can be found in the First World War. The nation, and its leaders, had undergone a ‘dress rehearsal’ in 1914-18: conscription, rationing, convoys, air raids, mass production, women’s uniformed services, coalitions and war cabinets had all happened before, which Churchill had personally witnessed and, in some cases, helped administer. This experience, combined with Churchill’s extraordinary abilities (along with some foibles), were what enabled Britain to survive.

Winston Churchill is the first book in a new series from Swift Press – The Prime Ministers – comprised of engaging, concise introductions to our past leaders.

Born: November 30, 1874
Oxfordshire, England
Died: January 24, 1965
Oxfordshire, England
English prime minister, statesman, and author

The English statesman and author Sir Winston Churchill led Britain during World War II (1939–45) and is often described as the "savior of his country." Sir Winston Churchill's exact place in the political history of the twentieth century is, and will continue to be, a subject of debate. But his strong personality and forceful determination made him a popular figure during the war years.