Daniel Defoe
DD was the founder of the realistic novel. He was also a brilliant journalist and in many ways the father of modern English periodicals. He founded and paved the way for many magazines ( "The Revue", "The Spectator").
DD was born in London, his father, a butcher, was wealthy enough to give his son a good education. D was to become a priest, but it was his cherished desire to become wealthy. His wish was never fullfield. D was banckrupt several times. He was always in deep debt. The only branch of business in which he proved succesful was journalism and literature. When D was about 23 he started writting pamphlets on question of the hour. He started writing pamphlets praising King William III, who was supported by the whig party. No matter in whose defence his brilliant pamphlets were written their irony was so subtle, that the enemy didn't understand it at first. But as soon as his enemy realised the real character of the pamphlets D was sentenced to 7 years of inprisonment. It was a cruel punishment, and when they came for him to be set free, people carried him on their shoulders. This was the climax of his political career and the end of it. In 1719, he tried his hand at another kind of literature - fiction, and wrote the novel he is now best known: "Robison Crusoe". After the book was published, D became famous and rich and was able to pay his creditors in full. Other novels which D were also very much talked about during his lifetime, but we do not hear much about them now. For example "Captain Singleton"(1720), "Moll Flanders"(1722).