Daniel Defoe

Daniel Defoe was an English writer, journalist, and pamphleteer born in London in 1660. He is best known for his novel Robinson Crusoe, which is considered one of the first novels in the English language. Defoe was a prolific writer, producing over 500 works in his lifetime, including novels, essays, and political pamphlets.
Defoe's early life is somewhat of a mystery, but it is believed that he was born into a middle-class family and received a good education. He worked as a merchant and traveled extensively, which gave him a wealth of material to draw upon in his writing.
Defoe's first major work was The True-Born Englishman, a satirical poem that criticized the xenophobia and racism prevalent in England at the time. He went on to write a number of political pamphlets, including The Shortest Way with the Dissenters, which got him into trouble with the government and resulted in his imprisonment.