The Battle of the Books, and other Short Pieces by Jonathan Swift

"The Battle of the Books, and other Short Pieces" by Jonathan Swift is a satire published in 1704. It depicts a literal battle between books in the King's Library, where ancient and modern works come alive to fight for supremacy. The piece enters a heated debate about whether contemporary learning surpasses classical knowledge. Through epic combat and the famous allegory of the spider and bee, Swift explores themes of pride, madness, and the relationship between creators and critics—without revealing which side wins. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

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Author Swift, Jonathan, 1667-1745
Editor Morley, Henry, 1822-1894
Title The Battle of the Books, and other Short Pieces
Note Wikipedia page about this book: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Battle_of_the_Books
Credits Transcribed from the 1886 Cassell & Company edition by David Price
Reading Level Reading ease score: 63.2 (8th & 9th grade). Neither easy nor difficult to read.
Language English
LoC Class PR: Language and Literatures: English literature
Subject English essays
Subject Satire, English
Subject Ancients and moderns, Quarrel of
Category Text
EBook-No. 623
Release Date
Most Recently Updated Sep 3, 2010
Copyright Status Public domain in the USA.
Downloads 1765 downloads in the last 30 days.
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