Daniel Defoe

4 summariesHistorical Fiction, Memoir, History

Daniel Defoe was an English writer, trader, journalist, pamphleteer and spy. He is most famous for his novel Robinson Crusoe, published in 1719, which is claimed to be second only to the Bible in its number of translations. He has been seen as one of the earliest proponents of the English novel, and helped to popularise the form in Britain with others such as Aphra Behn and Samuel Richardson. Defoe wrote many political tracts, was often in trouble with the authorities, and spent a period in prison. Intellectuals and political leaders paid attention to his fresh ideas and sometimes consulted him.

Books by Daniel Defoe

4 books available

Robinson Crusoe
Daniel Defoe
3.7 (248k) average on GoodreadsHistorical Fiction
Shipwrecked on an island, Robinson Crusoe, the only survivor, builds a new life through his strength and cleverness, turning a terrible situation into a display of human endurance.
Moll Flanders
Daniel Defoe
3.5 (41k) average on GoodreadsHistorical Fiction
An orphan's journey from desperate marriages to master criminal, Moll Flanders tells one woman's bold, unsentimental, and ultimately successful quest for independence in a society set against her.
A Journal of the Plague Year
Daniel Defoe
3.6 (7k) average on GoodreadsMemoir
Amidst the desolation of 1665 London, a meticulous saddler chronicles the terrifying spread of the bubonic plague, detailing the city's descent into chaos, the grim statistics of death, and the desperate, often futile, attempts at survival.
Roxana
Daniel Defoe
3.5 (4k) average on GoodreadsHistorical Fiction
Roxana, a woman in 18th-century Europe, uses her body for power and prestige, exposing the constraints of patriarchy and rejecting marriage as a loss of self.