JONATHAN SWIFT By Bertram Newman
" The time is hardly yet," Mr. Bertram Newman observes, for " a full biography of Swift which would satisfy modern demands." This, the modern reader may feel, is an unduly modest way of introducing the sixth biography of Swift to be published in the last five or six years. Mr. Newman has not been lucky with five rivals taking the wind out of his sails • and it is all the more unfortunate that one of them and in many respects the best of them—Mr. Quintana—should have produced his biography only a few months ago. " The fascinating nature of the subject " is Mr. Newman's excuse for writing another, and for this reason the public, even if its appetite is a little surfeited, may be ready to hear what he has to say. For, although there is nothing new in his book—" no original contri- bution to scholarship "—it is a sensible, straightforward and thoughtful piece of work. It begins with the date of Swift's birth ; it concludes with his epitaph. And between his first line and his last Mr. Newman has gathered together again the facts of Swift's life and arranged them in a neat and sober style. As to theory, Mr. Newman is at once a discriminating and cautious investigator, careful to avoid wild con- jectures, eager to penetrate, as far as reasonable deduction will allow, into the mystery of Swift's character and personality. His biography (Allen and Unwin, 12s. 6d.) will certainly be read by those who regard it as a duty to examine everything written about Swift, and it may be confidently recom- mended to anyone who, knowing little but caring just enough to want to know more, requires a reliable introduction to the subject.
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