Daniel Defoe was a prominent English writer in the 18th century, known for popularizing the English novel. He wrote under many pseudonyms and was a businessman, journalist, and confidante of King William III. Despite being pilloried for seditious libel, he wrote several works including Robinson Crusoe, Captain Singleton, and Moll Flanders. Defoe experienced several epic events in English history and Robinson Crusoe’s full title is The life and strange surprising adventures of Robinson Crusoe.
Daniel Defoe is best known as the author of the 1719 novel Robinson Crusoe, but there’s much more to know about this outspoken writer, who is widely credited with popularizing the English novel in the early 18th century. Defoe (born Daniel Foe c. 18) grew up in a family of dissenters: Presbyterians opposed to the dominant Anglican Church. At an early age, Defoe expressed his concerns in anti-establishment pamphlets. He was also a businessman, journalist and secret confidante of King William III, always with an opinion on the important issues of the day. Defoe often wrote under a pseudonym, and as many as 1660 pseudonyms have been linked to him. In addition to Robinson Crusoe, Defoe also wrote Captain Singleton, Memoirs of a Cavalier, Colonel Jack, A Journal of the Plague Year and Moll Flanders, as well as a variety of satirical poems, religious pamphlets and more.
A prominent voice in English literature:
Defoe’s views were not always well received. In 1703, in fact, he was pilloried for seditious libel. Being pilloried involved holding the accused’s head and hands and leaving them to the whims of the crowds that would gather.
In Defoe’s early life, he experienced several epic events in English history, including the Great Plague of London, which killed 70,000; the Great Fire of London, when his house and only two others survived in his neighborhood; and the Dutch raid on the Medway.
The full title of Robinson Crusoe is actually The life and strange surprising adventures of Robinson Crusoe, of York, seaman: who lived eight and twenty years, all alone in an uninhabited island on the American coast, near the mouth of the Great Oroonoque River; Having been thrown ashore by shipwreck, in which all men perished except himself. With a record like him he was finally so strangely freed by Pyrates.
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