Swift, the Book, and the Irish Financial Revolution Satire and Sovereignty in Colonial Ireland / Sean D. Moore. [print]

Includes bibliographies and index.

God knows how we wretches came by that fashionable thing a national debt: the Dublin book trade and the Irish financial revolution-- -- Banking on print: the Bank of Ireland, the South Sea bubble, and the bailout-- -- Arachne's bowels: scatology, enlightenment, and Swift's relations with the London book trade-- -- Money, the great divider of the world, has, by a strange revolution, been the great uniter of a most divided people: from minting to printing in the Drapier's letters-- -- Devouring posterity: a modest proposal, empire, and Ireland's debt of the nation-- -- A mart of literature: the 1730s and the rise of a literary public sphere in Ireland-- -- Epilogue: a brand identity crisis in a national literature?

In the 1700s, not all revolutions involved combat. Jonathan Swift, proving the pen is mightier than the sword, wrote scathing satires of England and, by so doing, fostered a growing sense of Irishness among the people who lived on the large island to the left of London. This sense of Irish nationalism, Moore argues, led to a greater sense of being independent from the mainland and, in what might be a surprise, more autonomy for Ireland than one might imagine. And so, when the good times rolled, Ireland got to keep much of its newly generated wealth. This was in sharp contrast to another British territory, consisting of thirteen colonies, where taxes tended to be increased with somewhat unpleasant consequences. What begins with a look at Swift's satiric writings ends up being a fascinating study of Colonialism and post-Colonialism--ever a subject of interest--allowing thoughtful and provocative insights into Irish and American history.