Daniel Defoe (1660 – 1731) was an English novelist, journalist and spy known for his wit and keen sense of irony. Prolific and versatile, he wrote more than 500 books, pamphlets and journals on various topics and was a pioneer of economic journalism.  Born Daniel Foe in London of Presbyterian Dissenter parents, he was educated at Dissenting Academy. Forsaking the ministry, he first became a merchant dealing in various goods, married, fathered a family, and had a variety of colorful experiences before beginning to publish in the early 1700’s. He added “de” to his surname to give it an aristocratic flourish.

In 1703 he was convicted of seditious libel for his pamphlet “The Shortest Way With Dissenters”, which comically argued for the extermination of all dissenters from the Church of England. He secured his release by becoming a spy for the Crown. He established his periodical The Review in 1704, at first publishing political propaganda but soon including articles on religion, fashion, society and the arts, publishing three times a week until 1713. Addison and Steele cited The Review as an influence for the Tatler and Spectator decades later.  He turned to fiction in 1719 with Robinson Crusoe, the bestseller and masterpiece which put him at the top of the literary world. He wrote several more novels, including the two more classics written in 1722, Moll Flanders and A Journal of the Plague Year.  After Roxane in 1724 he returned to writing essays and journalism until his death 1731.