Daniel DeFoe was an English writer, journalist, and pamphleteer born in the 17th century in London. He is best known as the author of Robinson Crusoe, considered one of the first novels in English. DeFoe had a varied career and wrote over 500 books, pamphlets, and journals on diverse topics from politics to the supernatural. Despite his success as a writer, he struggled financially and was imprisoned multiple times for his political writings. He died in 1731 in London buried in Bunhill Fields.