Selected Writings of Daniel Defoe [Paperback]

A insightful selection of Daniel Defoe's voluminous writings, which have often been neglected in favour of his more famous novels.Daniel Defoe is diminished by his popularity as the author of a handful of important novels, since the remainder of his voluminous writings suffer undue neglect. This selection of his other works will help the reader return to the major novels with a greater appreciation and livelier sense of their author.Daniel Defoe is diminished by his popularity as the author of a handful of important novels, since the remainder of his voluminous writings suffer undue neglect. This selection of his other works will help the reader return to the major novels with a greater appreciation and livelier sense of their author.Paradoxically, Daniel Defoe is diminished by his popularity as the author of a handful of important novels, since the remainder of his voluminous writings suffer undue neglect. Fully to understand him he should be taken whole but his authorship of over 500 publications renders this feat well nigh impossible. The purpose of this selection, then, is to enable the reader to make or renew the acquaintance of Defoe on some of his favourite topics such as trade and politics, manners and morality, in poetry as well as prose, and in works like A True Relation of the Apparition of One Mrs Veal and Memoirs of a Cavalier, which are characteristic blends of fact and fiction. Equipped with the insights possible from this sample, the reader - it is hoped - will return to the major novels with a keener appreciation of their distinctive quality and a livelier sense of their author.Preface; Acknowledgment; Note on the text; Defoe's life: a chronological survey; Introduction; The Selections: from An Essay Upon Projects; An Argument Shewing, That a Standing Army...; From The True-Born Englishman; From Legion's Memorial; The Shortest-Way with the Dissenters; From A Hymn to the Pillory; Letter to Robert Harley; From A Review; A True Relation of the ApparitilC=