Daniel Defoe was an English writer, journalist, merchant and spy. He is famous for his novels Robinson Crusoe (1719), Moll Flanders (1722) and Roxana: The Fortunate Mistress (1724). He has been seen as one of the earliest proponents of the English novel, and helped to popularise the form in Britain with others such as Aphra Behn and Samuel Richardson. April 3, 1660 – 1731; died at about 70. Alive at the same time as Isaac Newton, Johann Sebastian Bach, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Benjamin Franklin, and Voltaire. Wiki link