Synopses & Reviews
Review
"Defoe needed a new biography to take into account the considerable new scholarship since the last full biography in 1958. Backscheider moves into the gap with a book that is highly admirable in most respects. Packed with information (a great deal of it new), her work explains much about Defoe and his work. Backscheider seems scrupulously fair in showing Defoe's unattractive aspects, as well as his good qualities (not as many, apparently, as his bad ones). Two weaknesses do crop up, however: Defoe's personality never really becomes clear, probably as a result of Backscheider's desire not to speculate, and she includes so much information from so many different aspects of Defoe's life that the chronology of events becomes at times obscure. These caveats, though, do not at all overwhelm this book's many excellent qualities." Reviewed by Daniel Weiss, Virginia Quarterly Review (Copyright 2006 Virginia Quarterly Review)
Synopsis
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