Defoe was a dissenter by birth and upbringing.
He started the 'Review', a periodical published
three times weekly, in 1704.
His pamphlet, 'Shortest Way with the Dissenters',
published in 1719 was a scathing satire on the intolerance of the Church party and he was made to stand in the
pillroy for it.
Other works by Defoe include
History of the Plague (of which could could not have
had much personal recollection),
Memoirs of a Cavalier,
Captain Singleton and
Moll Flanders.
Daniel Defoe is best remembered as the author of the romantic adventure novel Robinson Crusoe which was inspired by the real adentures of Alexander Selkirk (1676-1721). Such is the popularity of the story that Robinson Crusoe and his "Man Friday" are almost universally known throughout the English speaking world, even if the name of the author has been forgotten. CBOK:3-1073
Little is known of Defoe's early life other than that he was the son of a London butcher and was educated for the clergy. CBOK:3-1073
A Dissenter in religion (belonging to one of the Puritan sects which "dissented" from the established Church of England), Defoe's published opinions led to his arrestand imprisonment. In 1702 Defoe published his satirical pamphlet, The Shortest Way with Dissenters in which he advised such rediculously severe punishment of Dissenters as to discredit the policy. CBOK:3-1073
The pamphlet led the Tory government to order his arrest (describing him as "a middle-sized, spare man, about 40 years old, of a brown complexion and dark, brown-coloured hair, but wears a wig; a hooked nose, a sharp chin, grey eyes, and a large mole near his mouth.") Defoe was sentenced to three days in the pillory (crowds of sympathetic friends surrounded him while he was in the pillory) and an indefinate prison term. CBOK:3-1073
While in prison, he started to publish the periocidal Review which he continued until 1714 - it was the first of several periodicals with which Defoe was connected. CBOK:3-1073
The author of the romantic adventure novel Robinson Crusoe which was inspired by the real adentures of Alexander Selkirk (1676-1721) who was marooned on Juan Fernandez Island near Chile for over four years. CBOK:3-1028
