The author of Robinson Crusoe, started his professional life as the 1700s equivalent of a blogger and a hot-take merchant. Daniel Defoe’s satirical pamphlet The Shortest Way with the Dissenters landed him in the pillory. Listen to learn about the early career of the author of one of the great early English novels, why Queen Anne’s government treated political criticism as treason, and how a booming London led to a vibrant press despite political crackdowns.

Books/Works Discussed

The True-Born Englishman (1701) by Daniel Defoe:
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/30159/30159-h/30159-h.htm

The Shortest Way with the Dissenters (1703) by Daniel Defoe:
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?cc=ecco;idno=004844761.0001.000;node=004844761.0001.000:2;rgn=div1;view=text

Robinson Crusoe (1719) by Daniel Defoe:
https://www.amazon.com/Robinson-Crusoe-Wordsworth-Classics-Daniel/dp/1853260452

Daniel Defoe: His Life (1989) by Paula R. Backscheider:
https://www.amazon.com/Daniel-Defoe-Paula-R-Backscheider/dp/0801845122

People Referenced

00:48 | Daniel Defoe — Prolific English pamphleteer, satirist, and later author of Robinson Crusoe.

02:56 | John Baker — London printer who paid Defoe per 500-copy pamphlet run, giving the author an unusually high royalty share.

06:24 | Queen Anne — British monarch (1702-1714) whose ministers prosecuted Defoe for seditious libel.

12:44 | William III (William of Orange) — Took the English throne after the 1688 Glorious Revolution, shaping the political landscape Defoe inherited.

15:36 | Jonathan Swift — Tory-leaning contemporary satirist and author of Gulliver’s Travels.