The 44 volumes that make up The Works of Daniel Defoe are a comprehensive collection of the writings of this extraordinary man. Grouped under five thematic headings, it aims to give as extensive a representation as possible of Defoe’s work in all the literary genres to which he contributed. Daniel Defoe (1660-1731) is mainly thought of as a novelist - author of such novels as Moll Flanders and Robinson Crusoe - but his contemporary regarded him in a different light. In his own lifetime Defoe was regarded as a poet, a journalist and a polemic writer on political, economic and social affairs. The quantity and range of his writings have made a lasting impact on many literary genres.