Daniel Defoe dɪˈfoʊ c 1660 24 April 1731 born Daniel Foe was an English trader writer journalist pamphleteer and spy He is most famous for his novel Robinson Crusoe which is second only to the Bible in its number of translations He has been seen as one of the earliest proponents of the English novel and helped to popularize the form in Britain with others such as Aphra Behn and Samuel Richardson Defoe wrote many political tracts and was often in trouble with the authorities and spent a period in prison Intellectuals and political leaders paid attention to his fresh ideas and sometimes consulted with him Defoe was a prolific and versatile writer producing more than three hundred worksbooks pamphlets and journalson diverse topics including politics crime religion marriage psychology and the supernatural He was also a pioneer of business journalism and economic journalism From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia