He was born in the family of nonconformists (Dissenters)- those who refused to accept the rules of an established national Church. His father, a butcher, was wealthy enough to give his son a good education. he was to become a priest in the Nonconformist Church, but when his training was completed, he decided to engage in business as a hosier. It was his cherished desire to become wealthy, but his wish was never fulfilled.

He went bankrupt several times. He was always deep in debt. The only branch of business in which he proved successful was journalism and literature. He was the founder of the early bourgeois realistic novel and the father of English periodicals. The Review which he founded in 1704 and conducted until 1713, is regarded as the first English newspaper. It paved the way to the magazines The Tatler and The Spectator.

When he was twenty-three, he started writing pamphlets on questions of the hour. When the Protestant King William III was enthroned (1689), he started writing pamphlets praising his policy. Due to the fact that William III was supported by the Whig party, he was continually attacked by the Tories.

During the reign of Queen Anne ( ), persecution of the Dissenters began again, as in the reign of James II. He wrote a pamphlet in defense of the Dissenters, in which he attacked the Tories and the established Church. The author was sentenced to seven years imprisonment.

In order to disgrace him, the Tories subjected him to a cruel punishment: he had to stand in the pillory in a public square with his head and hands in stocks. People gathered round him and cheered him while he stood there, women threw flowers to him, and when the time came for him to be set free, people carried him from the square on their shoulders.

In 1719, he tried his hand at another kind of literature – fiction, and wrote the novel which brought him world-wide fame –The Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe. After the book had been published he became famous and rich and was able to pay his creditors in full. Now he wrote for four public magazines and received a regular sum of money from the government.

Besides Robinson Crusoe, he wrote some more novels which were popular during his lifetime, but we do not hear much about them now. They are: The Life of Captain Singleton, The Fortunes and Misfortunes of Moll Flanders, The History of Colonel Jack, A History of Lady Roxana.