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Audiobook edition · 5 h 11 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What happens when religion, politics, and modern thought all become targets of savage satire?
In A Tale of a Tub, Jonathan Swift turns satire toward religion, politics, and the madness of modern thought. These are large subjects, but the invitation is direct: approach serious ideas through humour, and leave room to question what seems worthy of respect.
First published in 1704, this work brings those subjects together under Swift's sharp satirical eye. Read it for the friction between serious matters and savage humour, where ideas invite scrutiny rather than easy agreement. The appeal lies in that uneasy meeting of laughter and thought.
What you’ll discover
- Religion under scrutiny Explore religion as a subject of satire, with room for questioning rather than agreement.
- Politics meets savage humour Turn toward politics through a work that makes serious subjects an invitation to laugh.
- Modern thought in question Consider the madness named in Swift's subject, and bring your own questions to it.
- Laughter beside serious ideas Find the pull of humour in subjects that invite strong opinions and close attention.
- Swift's satirical edge Spend time with a work whose savage approach puts questioning at the heart of reading.
Who will love it
Readers who enjoy sharp satire, comic invention, and stories with a double meaning will love it. It suits anyone curious about the quarrels of churches and the way clever people talk themselves into what they want.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- An inheritance meets the pull of fashion
- Desire teaches cleverness to bend rules
- Peter makes authority a demand for obedience
- Reform separates care from destructive rage
- Opposing errors can become strangely alike
- Comforting illusions compete with the truth
- The storyteller exposes himself through praise
- The book makes suspicion a reading habit
- Look beneath claims of faithful service
Who’s who
- The FatherA dying man who leaves his three sons coats and a detailed will, and asks them to live together as brothers.
- PeterThe scholar brother who claims to be the eldest, grows grand and mad with pride, and sells wonders to the gullible.
- MartinThe calm brother who removes the added trimmings with care and tries to keep the coat sound and the family at peace.
- JackThe hot-tempered brother who hates Peter so much that he rips his coat to shreds and falls into wild visions.
- The Hack AuthorThe boastful Grub Street writer who tells the tale, praises himself, and wanders off into digressions at every chance.
- The BooksellerThe publisher who dedicates the book to Lord Somers and claims the author does not know it is in print.
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A Tale of a Tub
by Jonathan Swift · 1704
Three brothers inherit identical coats and one strict will, then find clever ways to wear whatever fashion demands.
Challenging2–5 hours to read16 languages
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“a man whose original genius and uncommon talents have raised him, in the general estimation, above all other writers of the age”
In short
What if your father left you a coat and a rulebook, and the whole town laughed at the coat? That is how the central allegory of A Tale of a Tub begins.
A Tale of a Tub at a glance
- Reading time
- About 3 h2 h 20 min fast, 3 h 30 min slow
- Length
- 42,400 words
- Library level
- Challenging long sentences, a rich vocabulary
- First published
- 1704by Jonathan Swift
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A dying father leaves three sons three coats
The tale begins like a fairy story. A man has three sons born at a single birth. When the father lies dying, he has no land and no money to leave them. He has bought each boy a coat instead.
The coats will stay sound all their lives and will grow with the sons so they always fit. The father hands over his will, which holds full instructions for wearing the coats, with a penalty for every breach. He adds one more order: the three must live together like brothers.
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Details
- First published
- 1704
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 3 h 20 min
- Level
- Challenging
Cite this edition
Swift, Jonathan. A Tale of a Tub. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/a-tale-of-a-tub.
Swift, J. (2026). A tale of a tub. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/a-tale-of-a-tub (Original work published 1704)
Swift, Jonathan. A Tale of a Tub. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/a-tale-of-a-tub.
@book{swift2026tale,
author = {Swift, Jonathan},
title = {A Tale of a Tub},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/a-tale-of-a-tub},
note = {First published 1704}
}
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What is A Tale of a Tub about?
It follows three brothers, Peter, Martin, and Jack, who inherit coats and a will from their father and bend the rules to fit fashion. It is a comic allegory of religious quarrels, with digressions on critics, writers, and madness.
Who are Peter, Martin, and Jack in A Tale of a Tub?
Peter stands for the Roman Catholic Church, Martin for the Church of England, and Jack for the radical Protestants who strip away ceremony. All three brothers claim to follow their father's will, and each distorts it differently.
Why is it called A Tale of a Tub?
The preface says sailors throw an empty tub to a whale to distract it from the ship. Swift's narrator offers this book as the tub, meant to keep restless, argumentative wits busy while the state and church stay safe.
The author
Jonathan Swift
1667–1745 · Anglo-Irish satirist and essayist
Jonathan Swift (1667–1745) was an Anglo-Irish writer and clergyman born in Dublin. He lived in Ireland and England. He wrote essays, satire, and poetry. A Tale of a Tub and The Battle of the Books appeared in 1704, and Gulliver’s Travels in 1726. He died in Dublin.
“Books, like their authors, have only one way of entering the world, but ten thousand ways of leaving it for good.”
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