Friendship and Allegiance explores the concept of friendship as it was defined, contested and distorted by writers of the early eighteenth century. Setting well-known canonical texts (The Beggar's Opera, Gulliver's Travels) alongside lesser-known works, it portrays a literary world renegotiating the meaning of public and private virtue.

Introduction PART I: FRIENDSHIP IN CRISIS 1. Scriblerian Friendship and Public Crisis 2. Daniel Defoe and South Sea Friendship 3. Lord Hervey and the Limits of Court Whig Pragmatism 4. The Friendly Opposition and Public Life in Pope's Bathurst 5. Friendship and the Patriot Prince PART II: FRIENDSHIP BY TROPE 6. Friendship and Fable 7. Friendship and Criminality 8. Epilogue: Friendship and Rural Retreat Notes Bibliography Index

Emrys D. Jones lectures on eighteenth-century and Romantic literature at the University of Greenwich, UK. He studied at the universities of Oxford and Cambridge. His publications include articles in Studies in Eighteenth-Century Culture and Medical Humanities.