Daniel Defoe was an English novelist, journalist, and pamphleteer who is best known for his novel Robinson Crusoe. He was born in 1660 and died in 1731. He is credited with being one of the earliest proponents of the novel as a literary form. His works include Moll Flanders, Roxana, and A Journal of the Plague Year. He is also known for his political and religious writings, such as The Shortest Way with the Dissenters and The True-Born Englishman.