Daniel Defoe: His Life

by Paula R. Backscheider

Overview

Throughout one of English history's most tumultuous periods, Daniel Defoe (1660-1731) took part in and reported on nearly every major political, religious, and social controversy. This widely acclaimed biography offers a fascinating account of Defoe's remarkable life. Paula Backscheider reveals new information about Defoe's secret career as a double agent, his daring business ventures, his dangerous pen—and his cat-and-mouse games with those who sought to control it. This is the definitive biography of one of eighteenth-century England's most influential figures—and one of the most prolific and widely read authors of all time

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780801845123
Publisher:	Johns Hopkins University Press
Publication date:	08/01/1992
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	688
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Paula R. Backscheider is the Philpott-Stevens Eminent Scholar in the Department of English at Auburn University. She is the author of several books, including Daniel Defoe: His Life, Spectacular Politics: Theatrical Power and Mass Culture in Early Modern England, and Reflections on Biography, and editor of Revising Women: Eighteenth-Century "Women's Fiction" and Social Engagement.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations
Preface
Part I: 1660-1703
Chapter 1. Fire and Plague
Chapter 2.Merchant-Rebel
Chapter 3. Bankrupt
Chapter 4. Recovery
Chapter 5. Fugitive
Chapter 6. Prison
Part II: 1703-1714
Chapter 7. Four Hundred Thousand Words
Chapter 8. The Literary Effort of a Lifetime
Chapter 9. New Life
Chapter 10. A terrible People
Chapter 11. Political Maelstrom
Chapter 12. The Goliath of the Party
Chapter 13. A Team of Writers
Part III: 1714-1731
Chapter 14. Six Hundred Thousand Words
Chapter 15. A Discontented People
Chapter 16. A Penetrating Eye
Chapter 17. The Whole World in Motion
Chapter 18. Projects and Designs
Chapter 19. Changes and Disasters
Epilogue: Bred in the Bone
Notes
Bibliography
Index

Editorial Reviews

For the first time everything we know about Defoe is presented in a single orderly sequence..A searching study of a complex man, one that is coherent and credible for our times.
—New York Times Book Review

A very considerable work of scholarship, and the first to give this prolific writer the extended treatment he after all deserves.
—Washington Post Book World

Paula Backscheider spins this absorbing narrative with meticulous scholarship and lucidity.
—Independent on Sunday

From the Publisher

A very considerable work of scholarship, and the first to give this prolific writer the extended treatment he after all deserves.

Washington Post Book World

For the first time everything we know about Defoe is presented in a single orderly sequence..A searching study of a complex man, one that is coherent and credible for our times.

New York Times Book Review

Paula Backscheider spins this absorbing narrative with meticulous scholarship and lucidity.

Independent on Sunday

Charles Gildon has Defoe say of Robinson Crusoe, ``I drew thee from the consideration of my own Mind; I have been all my Life that Rambling Inconsistent Creature, which I have made thee.'' Backscheider reveals how right Gildon was, showing ``a man struggling to reconcile conflicting loyalties and competing strategies'' but always trying to be useful, well thought of, and rich, a loyal Dissenter though he may have been excommunicated. Multifaceted and multitalented--journalist, merchant, novelist, spy--Defoe emerges as complex yet comprehensible. The work also paints a clear picture of Defoe's political, social, and economic milieu. The first full-length biography of Defoe in 30 years, this well-written, well-illustrated book is a necessary addition to all collections.-- Joseph Rosenblum, Univ. of North Carolina, Greensboro

Library Journal

An excellent biography, the first since 1958, of a man whose life was an adventure rivaling Robinson Crusoe's. Backscheider (English, U. of Rochester) reveals new information about Defoe's secret career as a double agent, his daring business ventures, and his cat-and-mouse games with those who wanted to control the press and his dangerous pen. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews

The outstanding virtue of this biography is its evocation of the complex political climate in which Defoe lived.
—John Taylor, San Francisco Chronicle

John Taylor

For the first time everything we know about Defoe is presented in a single orderly sequence…a searching study of a complex man, one that is coherent and credible for our times.
—Pat Rogers, New York Times Book Review

Pat Rogers

Paula Backscheider spins this absorbing narrative with meticulous scholarship and lucidity.
—Terry Eagleton, Independent on Sunday

Terry Eagleton

A very considerable work of scholarship, and the first to give this prolific writer the extended treatment he after all deserves.
—John Kenyon, Washington Post Book World

John Kenyon