Daniel Defoe (c. 1660-1731) was an English writer, journalist, merchant, and political thinker widely regarded as one of the founders of the English novel. Born in London, Defoe lived a life as adventurous and turbulent as many of his characters. Before turning fully to fiction, he worked as a trader, traveled extensively across Europe, and became deeply involved in politics. His outspoken pamphlets and political writings led to imprisonment more than once, including time in Newgate Prison. Far from silencing him, these experiences sharpened his observational skills and deepened his understanding of human resilience, ambition, and moral struggle. In 1719, he published Robinson Crusoe, a novel that became an immediate success and helped define the emerging genre of realistic fiction. Written in the style of a true memoir, the book's vivid detail and psychological depth convinced many early readers that Crusoe had been a real man.

The novel's exploration of survival, faith, industry, and empire made it one of the most influential works in English literature. Defoe went on to write numerous other works, including Moll Flanders, A Journal of the Plague Year, and Colonel Jack, producing hundreds of pamphlets, essays, and books throughout his career. His writing combined journalism and storytelling in a way that shaped the development of modern narrative prose. Today, Daniel Defoe is remembered not only for Robinson Crusoe, but for helping establish the English novel as a serious literary form-grounded in realism, moral complexity, and the enduring drama of the individual against the world.