Irony, with its old and complex history beginning with Plato and Socrates, and known by intellects from different social classes, including the ancient dramatists, philosophers, and rhetoricians, is not an easy concept to grasp. Originally published in 1926, this volume analyses the history of irony in ancient writers such as Homer and Lucian and how the use of Irony in modern literature has been shaped and coloured by the Ironical tradition. The works of Tacitus, Shakespeare, Goethe and Jane Austen are among those discussed.

J.A.K. Thomson (1879-1959) was Professor Emeritus of Classics at King's College London.