An inspired humorist and an Anglican minister, Jonathan Swift was also a hoaxer and a teller of tales, penning such classics as Gulliver's Travels and the outrageous essay A Modest Proposal. In this "exacting and thought-provoking" biography (Publishers Weekly), John Stubbs follows Swift through his many battles and in his many contradictions, as a priest who sought to uphold the dogma of his church; as a man who was quite prepared to defy convention, not least in his strong attachment to an unmarried woman, his "Stella"; and as a writer whose vision showed that no single creed holds all the answers.