Daniel Defoe was born in London, the son of a butcher.
As a salesman of tights and stockings, he traveled widely in Europe. Travel was one of his great interests throughout his life. He was also actively interested in politics. He wrote articles and poems attacking people’s prejudices, and so angered Queen Anne that he was sent to prison from 1702-4. He was rescued from prison by a Conservative politician, who employed him as a secret agent, sending him round the country to gather information about people’s political opinions.
He was again sent to prison when he wrote articles criticizing King George I, but when he was set free he continued his writing.

During his life Defoe wrote over five hundred articles and books, but he is best known for the works he produced in his later years, and especially for Robinson Crusoe, one ofthe most familiar stories

in English literature. This is considered by many to be the first English novel, and is based on the true story of Alexander Selkirk, a Scottish sailor. When it was published it was an immediate success.
It was translated into many languages, and influenced many later writers and thinkers.

Defoe’s influence on the development of the English novel was enormous. He wrote plainly and clearly, with realistic descriptions of people, places and action.
His writing shows a reporter’s love of detail as well as a writes' spowerful imagination.

Well-known works by Daniel Defoe include: 
Robinson Crusoe (1719), 
Captain Singleton (1720), 
Moll Flanders (1722), 
A Journal of the Plague Year (1722),
Roxana (1724), 
A Tour Through the Whole Island of Great Britain (1724-7)