This is the definitive biography of one of eighteenth-century England's most influential figures—and one of the most prolific and widely read authors of all time

In this book, Paula Backscheider considers Daniel Defoe's entire canon as related, developing, and in close dynamic relationship to the literature of its time.

Rather than presenting a chronological survey, Paula R. Backscheider explores the forms in which women wrote and the uses to which they put those forms.

The book concludes with observations about the form's future directions and challenges. In this second edition, Backscheider provides a new Introduction that describes innovative forms of biography and new theoretical directions.

She also reveals how these works, many written by men with military experience, attest to the context of difficult, inescapable realities and momentous needs.

Elizabeth Singer Rowe played a pivotal role in the development of the novel during the eighteenth century.

Written for the very audience it portrays, this novel introduces the heroine, Maria Villiers, to London's "gentle" society and its glittering pastimes.

Here Backscheider shows how transgressive, revisionary literature can awaken censoring and collaborative forces even as it opens debate.

The collection's final essay demonstrates the vital importance of bibliographic study.