Who was Jonathan Swift? This book examines this enigmatic figure in the light of his relationships - with his lover Esther Vanhomrigh, his ward Esther Johnston, and his male friends: Congreve, Temple, Bolingbroke, Harley, Pope, Addison and Thomas Sheridan. Though often caricatured as a bitter misanthrope, Swift can only be properly understood if we recognize his love of humanity and his capacity for friendship. The author traces this theme from Swift's youth in Ireland and his literary and political apprenticeship at Moor Park in Surrey, and on through the years of greatness - the satires and pamphlets, the Church diplomacy at the Court of Queen Anne, and the writings of his maturity: the Drapier's Letters, A Modest Proposal, and Gulliver's Travels.