Product Description

Product Description
1931. There is no obvious drama in this straightforward narrative. No one could pretend that Roxana reveals either charm or striking personality. The author's art comes from a particular form of realism, in which he stands almost alone. It is built upon absolute simplicity in style, elaborately precise statement of natural detail and a complete absence of emphasis or emotion. We do not judge Roxana for her conduct, but sympathize with her as a woman because Defoe has made her our friend. We believe in her as a real, living, intimate acquaintance who is interesting because her life is crowded with surprising events and fortune treats her with more than its usual caprice. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

Sex-appeal
The itinerary of Daniel Defoe's heroine is absolutely not a common example of life in Paris and London in the 18th century. At that time, only 10 % of the population was older than 30 years and only one in one thousand was rich.
For Roxana, `Poverty was my Snare', `the dreadful Argument of wanting Bread'. And, `Poverty is the strongest Incentive; a Temptation against which no Virtue is powerful enough to stand out.'
What saves Roxana from a certain early death is her beauty, her sex-appeal: `In une Deshabile you charm me a thousand times more.'
With her beauty she amasses a fortune. After being a slave (`comply and live, deny and starve'), she is free (`the sweetest of Miss is Liberty'): `that while a Woman was single, that she had then the full Command of what she had, and the full Direction of what she did.'
She abhors the institution of matrimony and prefers to be a Mistress: `A Wife is treated with Indifference, a Mistress with a strong Passion; a Wife is looked upon as but an Upper-Servant, a Mistress is a Sovereign.'
But what ultimately brings Roxana down is religion and its correlative, remorse: `the Sence of Religion, and Duty to God, all Regard to Virtue and Honour given up ... (I was) no more than a [...].'
Remorse makes her look after her abandoned children, but this quest turns into a tragedy.

Like `Moll Flanders', this more moralist text constitutes a formidable portrait of the `horrid Complication' to be a woman.

Not to be missed.

Doing what you have to do to make a go of it - and then some
This novel is about how the desperations brought on by poverty can lead not only to crime but to a moral vacuum within an individual. Roxana is left a penniless widow with five children at age 22. In order to survive she becomes the mistress of her landlord and eventually bears him a son. Greed replaces need, and she determines to become a "woman of Wealth." After the landlord is murdered in a robbery, she becomes the mistress of an even wealthier prince, refusing to marry him because that would mean having to share her wealth. Eventually, after guilt and repentance set in over her squandered life, she decides to marry the prince, but all does not turn out well: she moves to Holland with him where "I fell into a dreadful Course of Calamities ... and I was brought so low again." One of the most interesting characters in the book is Roxana's faithful maid Amy, who sticks by Roxana through all her tribulations, even once offering her body to the landlord when Roxana appears to be barren. But for the life of me, after reading the ending a dozen times, I can't tell for sure whether Amy actually kills Roxana's menacing daughter or merely threatens to do so. This edition retains all the original spellings and punctuations, so it's a little hard reading at first, but with a little perseverance the eye and mind adjust and the difficulty wanes. Worth the effort.

Unforgettable
ROXANA is a fascinating book.Too often the title character is measured against Moll Flanders and is found inferior.Yes, she shares several of Moll's traits, including beauty, ambition and a lack of hesitation to use sex to exploit a situation to her advantage.But Roxana is a far more complex character.Whereas Moll started poor, Roxana suffers a calamity from which she must recover.It is through this experience that she develops into the con-artist that she becomes.But what truly sets her apart from all of Defoe's other characters is that she is capable of guilt.She is more psychologically developed in other ways, too.Notice all the complex emotions when she engineers a menage-a-trois with a gentleman and her maid, Amy.Defoe was "pushing the envelope" with ROXANA.Wherein MOLL FLANDERSis a comedy, ROXANA is a primitive thriller.It's a pity Alfred Hitchcock never adapted ROXANA for the screen because there are several very unsettling and suspenseful scenes in the novel as ROXANA's true identity is in danger of being revealed.And the ending is truly unsettling.I don't know why Hollywood hasn't discovered this one (although considering all the terrible film versions of MOLL FLANDERS, perhaps it's just as well).

The form of the novel was new when ROXANA was written.There were no rules.There were no precedents.Defoe came up with something truly extraordinary.There's nothing else quite like it.For me, ROXANA is unforgettable.I first read this book twenty years ago and there are scenes that still haunt me.If you've read ROBINSON CRUSOE and MOLL FLANDERS, by all means read ROXANA, too.You'll be amazed at how avant-garde ROXANA seems in comparison.Of the six of Defoe's major works that I have read, this is one of my favorites. It's not as tidy as CRUSOE and MOLL, but it has more of a plot and covers a broader range of emotions.

Defoe, an early feminist?
I read this having recently enjoyed Moll Flanders. They are very different, Moll's story is something of a bawdy, satirical comedy, whereas Roxana's is a tragic tale.I think that other reviewers have perhaps missed the irony that is inherent in Defoe's work.While presenting these tales of 'fallen' women as confessions of repentence, I think that was something of a cover, without which his novels would have been unacceptable to his contemporary audience.He creates strong, autonomous women, driven by economics.He does not judge them and because of that neither do we.Was he in fact an early feminist?He believed strongly in the education of women and advocated equality in marriage in 'Conjugal Lewdness.'I think Roxana is an extention of those ideas.

Little known book by Defoe
I love this book.It was as good as "Moll Flanders" and has a very happy and satisfying ending. ... Read more

Product Description
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

Product Description

Throughout one of English history's most tumultuous periods, Daniel Defoe (1660-1731) took part in and reported on nearly every major political, religious, and social controversy. This widely acclaimed biography offers a fascinating account of Defoe's remarkable life. Paula Backscheider reveals new information about Defoe's secret career as a double agent, his daring business ventures, his dangerous pen -- and his cat-and-mouse games with those who sought to control it. 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

Customer Reviews (1)

Hero or Villain
Paula Backscheider is widely regarded as Defoe's leading biographer on the strenghth of this book written eighteen years ago. It is both scholarly and contradictiory. Was Defoe the victim of religious persecution triumphing over adversity ot was he a man of poor character constantly on the run from the law? What we know now was that Defoe was illegitimate and brought up harshly on the margin of things.He was constantly on the run from the law. A homosexual, at a time when this was against the law, he sought the favours and protection of powerful men. He had eight children by three simultaneous wives and ended his life in poverty a refuge from the law. There is little of this in Backscheider's book. But what is there is scholarly and entertaining. ... Read more

Product Description
This _John Sheppard_, a Youth both in Age and Person, tho' an old Man in Sin; was Born in the Parish of _Stepney_ near _London_, in the Year 1702, a Son, Grandson, and great Grandson of a _Carpenter_: His Father died when he was so very Young that he could not recollect that ever he saw him.
... Read more

Product Description
I was not above Seventeen Years of Age when the Battle of _Gillycranky_ was fought between the Two Highland Generals, the Lord Viscount _Dundee_ and _Mackay_. And being then a Stripling at the University of _Aberdeen_ and understanding that several Clans were gathering into a Body in defence of King _James_ III sold my Books and Furniture of my Lodgings, and equipp'd my self to observe the Martial Call, I found my self prompted with. I arriv'd in a few Days near the Field of Battle, and joyn'd my self with a broken Body of Men who were making up towards the Mountains to recover themselves after the Fatigue of Battle.
... Read more

Product Description
Designed for school districts, educators, and students seeking to maximize performance on standardized tests, Webster's paperbacks take advantage of the fact that classics are frequently assigned readings in English courses. By using a running thesaurus at the bottom of each page, this edition of Dickory Cronke by Daniel Defoe was edited for students who are actively building their vocabularies in anticipation of taking PSAT¿, SAT¿, AP¿ (Advanced Placement¿), GRE¿, LSAT¿, GMAT¿ or similar examinations.
PSAT¿ is a registered trademark of the College Entrance Examination Board and the National Merit Scholarship Corporation neither of which sponsors or endorses this book; SAT¿ is a registered trademark of the College Board which neither sponsors nor endorses this book; GRE¿, AP¿ and Advanced Placement¿ are registered trademarks of the Educational Testing Service which neither sponsors nor endorses this book, GMAT¿ is a registered trademark of the Graduate Management Admissions Council which is neither affiliated with this book nor endorses this book, LSAT¿ is a registered trademark of the Law School Admissions Council which neither sponsors nor endorses this product. All rights reserved. ... Read more

Product Description
The title of this work is an index of the performance. It is a collection of useful instructions for a young tradesman. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

One of the wisest books about business ever written
The principles in this book are based on Daniel Defoe's extensive experiences in international business (in the 1700s), and the advice he wrote then is just as valid for people starting out in business today. In addition to cautionary chapters on debt, partners, and "leaving business to servants", Defoe writes on the personal choices of the successful business person - the perils of expensive living, the value of diligence and "application", and even the dangers of marrying too soon. Recommended.

Timeless guide to business practicalities
Defoe wrote this in the late 1700s, and it was revised in the early 1800s,with comical footnotes about how those antiquated business practices hadnow been modernized!Defoe was involved in various mercantile ventures,and wrote from hard earned experience, providing a bona fide textbook ofbusiness strategy and negotiating practices that is still very cogenttoday.I'd highly recommend this book to young people entering thebusiness world, but alas it's out of print, and thus impractical to obtain. ... Read more

Product Description
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Awesome read
About 50 percent of this book is about the well known story of the shipwreck.What was truly a pleasant surprise was the ride with the main character's journey of being a rebellious youth to a wise and deeply mature Christian.This story was written in 1808 about adventures in the late 17th and early 18th before even the most basic of technological advances we enjoy today.Yet, the spiritual and character themes are timeless.

Kindle version: margins wrong
The margins on this book are wrong... the left margin is much wider than the right.I find this very annoying.Just a warning for those of you who get annoyed by such things.

A wonderful book!
This is a awsome book.I read it for the first time when I was like 10 GREAT book! ... Read more

Product Description
A JOURNAL OF THE PLAGUE YEAR By Daniel Defoe, being observations or memorialsof the most remarkable occurrences, as well public as private, which happened in London during the last great visitation in 1665. Written by a Citizen who continued all the while in London. Never made public before

-----------------------------------------------------------------
** Check Out More Great Titles From Penny Books **
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Simply click on "Penny Books (Editor)" under the title to see a full list of all of our great discounted books!!

New titles are being added daily, so be sure to check back often to find more great discounted books!!

**Check outPennyBooksPublishing.com to get more information about Penny Books, learn how to follow us on Twitter, and look at all of our great titles!! ... Read more

Product Description
The 18th century was a wealth of knowledge, exploration and rapidly growing technology and expanding record-keeping made possible by advances in the printing press. In its determination to preserve the century of revolution, Gale initiated a revolution of its own: digitization of epic proportions to preserve these invaluable works in the largest archive of its kind. Now for the first time these high-quality digital copies of original 18th century manuscripts are available in print, making them highly accessible to libraries, undergraduate students, and independent scholars.
Western literary study flows out of eighteenth-century works by Alexander Pope, Daniel Defoe, Henry Fielding, Frances Burney, Denis Diderot, Johann Gottfried Herder, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, and others. Experience the birth of the modern novel, or compare the development of language using dictionaries and grammar discourses.
++++
The below data was compiled from various identification fields in the bibliographic record of this title. This data is provided as an additional tool in helping to insure edition identification:
++++
Huntington Library

N033025

Written in the first person, but in fact by Daniel Defoe.Actual date of publication from Moore and Furbank and Owens.In this issue, lines 13-14 of the title have "married four wives, and five of them prov'd whores;". Another issue has "was five times married to four whores;".

London : printed, and sold by J. Brotherton; T. Payne; W. Mears, and A. Dodd; W. Chetwood; J. Graves; S. Chapman, and J. Stagg, 1723. vii,[1],399,[1]p. ; 8° ... Read more

Product Description
The original and unabridged classic by Daniel Defoe, Kindle formatted with linked table of content for easy navigation, with illustrations. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

did not translate well to the Kindle
Since I got my Kindle I have been strictly alternating between modern literature and classics.Robinson Crusoe seemed a perfect choice when it got time to read my next classic.

I would like to say that I have given the novel a fair shot - but I just can't get over how poorly this was recreated for the Kindle.I'm not sure if Defoe actually spelled so many words incorrectly himself (I acknowledge that language was not as standardized during his time as it is today), but I have to cringe when I read a sentence such as: "As for the smaller thing, I made them with better success, such as little round pots, flat dishes, pitchers, and pipkins, the fun baking them very hard."
I highly doubt Defoe would have written "fun" in place of the word "sun."

The Kindle editors need to work a little bit harder when republishing a classic into e-book format.

A Surprising Look at the Racism and Religious Ignorance and Intolerance of the People Who Enslaved the World
I had to force myself to read most of this book.I began reading it thinking about the story of a man shipwrecked on an island and his survival.I thought, having read many other classics, that I was prepared for the ignorance of the English at that time, but I was woefully unprepared.The Caruso character is so unsympathetic, so hypocritical and so totally UNCHRISTIAN in his overall thinking and actions that you find yourself rooting for the "pagans" to do away with him.He saves Friday only with the thought of how to enslave him.The book is written with no understanding at all of what the true cultural and religious practices of any of the people are.Anyone not "Christian" is a savage, cannibalistic, murderer.In between the "good" Christians attacking everyone they meet is a sermon on how they live "Godly" lives and save these poor "creatures" from their pagan religions by enslaving them.This book, while hard to swallow and deal with, definitely further enlightened me as to the sick mindset of the original Europeans who used their distorted religious beliefs to kill and enslave millions of innocent people and steal their possessions and dispossess them of their lands.

Education, not entertainment
Defoe's book may be the first true English novel.Published 290 years ago and loosely based on the experiences of an English castaway rescued 300 years ago, The Life and Strange Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe has become a part of our culture, universally known by educated English speakers though rarely read outside of a high school or college literature class.And a rare high school it would be that assigned it.

The style is foreign to moderns, and many of the attitudes repugnant.But, if you have any multicultural inclinations, you must acknowledge that Defoe's culture is no less legitimate than our own.

Not particularly entertaining for moderns, Robinson Crusoe reveals much about the culture that nurtured John Locke and created the British Empire and the (often ignored) traditions of liberty, equality, and rule of law that led to modern America with its power, flaws, and ability to inspire all peoples.

People will be reading this book long after Clancy and Ludlum are forgotten and dropped from the library shelves.It will be read not for entertainment but to learn about a culture.

Wish for negative stars
I try to read classics every now and then. It's good for the soul. In theory. Although many years of literature class analyses did their best to wring every last drop of enjoyment from reading classic "literature". But since I was looking for a change of pace reading, when I got my Kindle, I thought I'd give it a try reading something "Classic." I loved the extremely short-lived "Robinson Crusoe" tv series last fall, so I picked up this book to see how the story actually went. ugh!

We all know the story of Robinson stranded on a tropical island alone, must figure out how to survive. Should be compelling, right? And at times, for a few paragraphs it was. However, the vast majority of the book consisted of a gospel sermon with all the charm and subtlety of a sledgehammer to the head. Of course I would imagine spiritual issues would most definitely come up whilst one is forced to endure so much hardship and solitude. But this became extreme, especially in the later half of the book. Then it becomes nearly unbearable and the character's behavior becomes less acceptable.

The stilted language wasn't as difficult as I would have expected from a novel written so long ago. Being written in the journal format, however,tended to distance the author and reader from any actual activity.I felt it would have worked better not given the distance of recapping events in a diary, but rather experiencing the world and events as it happened.

Overall, this was extremely frustrating to read, and the racial and religious bigotry, while to be expected to an extent since it was written two hundred some years ago, really wears thins quickly. This is not a pleasant read.The characters aren't endearing really either.It was just a disappointment.
... Read more

Product Description
Britain in the early eighteenth century: an introduction that is both informative and imaginative, reliable and entertaining. To the tradition of travel writing Daniel Defoe brings a lifetime's experience as a businessman, soldier, economic journalist and spy, and his Tour (1724-6) is an invaluable source of social and economic history. But this book is far more than a beautifully written guide to Britain just before the industrial revolution, for Defoe possessed a wild, inventive streak that endows his work with astonishing energy and tension, and the Tour is his deeply imaginative response to a brave new economic world. By employing his skills as a chronicler, a polemicist and a creative writer keenly sensitive to the depredations of time, Defoe more than achieves his aim of rendering 'the present state' of Britain. ... Read more

Product Description
This title has fewer than 24 printed text pages. The Ultroom Error is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by Gerald Allan Sohl is in the English language. If you enjoy the works of Gerald Allan Sohl then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection. ... Read more

Product Description
Robinson Crusoe, is a novel by Daniel Defoe. First published in 1719, it is sometimes considered to be the first novel in English. The book is a fictional autobiography of the title character—a castawaywho spends 28 years on a remote tropical island near Venezuela, encountering Native Americans, captives, and mutineers before being rescued.

Crusoe (the family name transcribed from the German name "Kreutznaer" or "Kreutznär") sets sail from the Queen's Dock in Hull on a sea voyage in September 1651, against the wishes of his parents, who want him to stay home and assume a career in law. After a tumultuous journey that sees his ship wrecked by a vicious storm, his lust for the sea remains so strong that he sets out to sea again. This journey too ends in disaster as the ship is taken over by Salé pirates, and Crusoe becomes the slave of a Moor. He manages to escape with a boat and a boy named Xury; later, Crusoe is befriended by the Captain of a Portugueseship off the western coast of Africa. The ship is en route to Brazil. There, with the help of the captain, Crusoe becomes owner of a plantation.

Years later, he joins an expedition to bring slaves from Africa, but his shipwrecked in a storm about forty miles out to sea on an island (which he calls the Island of Despair) near the mouth of the Orinoco river on September 30, 1659. His companions all die. Having overcome his despair, he fetches arms, tools, and other supplies from the ship before it breaks apart and sinks. He proceeds to build a fenced-in habitation near a cave which he excavates himself. He keeps a calendar by making marks in a wooden cross built by himself, hunts, grows corn and rice, dries grapes to make raisins for the winter months, learns to make pottery, raises goats, etc., using tools created from stone and wood which he harvests on the island, and adopts a small parrot. He reads the Bible and suddenly becomes religious, thanking God for his fate in which nothing is missing but society.

Years later, he discovers native cannibals who occasionally visit the island to kill and eat prisoners. At first he plans to kill them for committing an abomination, but later realizes that he has no right to do so as the cannibals do not knowingly commit a crime. He dreams of obtaining one or two servants by freeing some prisoners; and indeed, when a prisoner manages to escape, Crusoe helps him, naming his new companion "Friday" after the day of the week he appeared. Crusoe then teaches him English and converts him to Christianity.

After another party of natives arrives to partake in a cannibal feast, Crusoe and Friday manage to kill most of the natives and save two of the prisoners. One is Friday's father and the other is a Spaniard, who informs Crusoe that there are other Spaniards shipwrecked on the mainland. A plan is devised wherein the Spaniard would return with Friday's father to the mainland and bring back the others, build a ship, and sail to a Spanish port.

Before the Spaniards return, an English ship appears; mutineers have taken control of the ship and intend to maroon their former captain on the island. Crusoe and the ship's captain strike a deal, in which he helps the captain and the loyalist sailors retake the ship from the mutineers, whereupon they intend to leave the worst of the mutineers on the island. Before they leave for England, Crusoe shows the former mutineers how he lived on the island, and states that there will be more men coming. Crusoe leaves the island December 19, 1686, and arrives back in England June 11, 1687. He learns that his family believed him dead and there was nothing in his father's will for him. Crusoe then departs for Lisbon to reclaim the profits of his estate in Brazil, which has granted him a large amount of wealth. In conclusion, he takes his wealth over land to England to avoid traveling at sea. Friday comes with him and along the way they endure one last adventure together. ... Read more

Product Description
A comprehensive interpretation of one of Great Britain's most wide-ranging and prolific authors, this book examines Daniel Defoe's capacity to perceive fundamental historical change and long-term social process in light of his observations on liberty, property, trade, warfare, religion, and manners. It establishes Defoe as the crucial figure between the age of John Locke and the age of Smith and Hume in the evolution of eighteenth-century theories about commerce and conquest, religious toleration, and civil society.
... Read more

Product Description
The book has no illustrations or index. Purchasers are entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Subjects: England; ... Read more

Product Description
Daniel Defoe had an eventful and adventurous life as a merchant, politician, spy and literary hack. He is one of the eighteenth century's most lively, innovative and important authors, famous not only for his novels, including Robinson Crusoe, Moll Flanders, and Roxana, but for his extensive work in journalism, political polemic and conduct guides, and for his pioneering 'Tour through the Whole Island of Great Britain.' This volume surveys the wide range of Defoe's fiction and non-fiction, and assesses his importance as writer and thinker.Leading scholars discuss key issues in Defoe's novels, and show how the man who was once pilloried for his writings emerges now as a key figure in the literature and culture of the early eighteenth century. ... Read more

Product Description
Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Of soldiers and citizens
Daniel Defoe's `hero' is a mercenary: `I confess, when I went into arms at the beginning of this war, I never troubled myself to examine sides. I was glad to hear the drums beat for soldiers, as if I had been a mere Swiss, that not cared which side went up or down, so I had my pay.'
He is full of admiration for the battle tactics of his masters. But, what happens after the battle is over doesn't bother him: towns delivered to the `fury of the soldiers', plundering, looting and slaughtering innocent women and children.

The soldier is amazed about the `prodigious stupid bigotry of the people' and `the entire empire of the priests over the souls and the bodies of people'. But he clearly sees that `religion is the pretence not the cause of war'. Behind the veil of religion lay the fundamental interests of the warring parties: the Protestant masters fighting the Catholics to keep their `privileges' (not paying the tithes to Rome and its clergy) and the Puritans fighting the King in order to restore the rights of their power base (Parliament).

This novel with all its massacres and diseases has only historical value as a picture of army life in the 17th century.

Only for historians and Defoe fans.

Daniel Defoe
This is obviously one of Defoe's more obscure works. Part I begins in 1630. A young English nobleman, a second son, though his father's favorite, decides to see something of the world and begins traveling on the continent with a friend. He signs on with the troops of Gustavus Adolphus, king of Sweden, who's aiding German Protestants against, I think, the Catholics. This ten-year period occurs near the end of the Thirty Years War. My knowledge of seventeenth-century European history is practically nonexistent, so I didn't really understand the issues involved and didn't learn much more from this book.

In Part II, our nameless hero returns to England, where the Civil War between the Cavaliers (the king's troops) and the Roundheads (Puritans) is about to get underway. (It was at the end of the Civil War that Charles I was beheaded, after which the Commonwealth took over for eleven years until the restoration of Charles II in 1660.) I thought this part might be more interesting, as I do know something about English history, and it was.

Like A JOURNAL OF THE PLAGUE YEAR, this book, too, has a fictional narrator in a historical setting. If you like Defoe, you will not dislike this book. If you don't like Defoe, this book won't change your mind. ... Read more

Product Description
Who was Born in Newgate, England and during a Life of continu'd Variety for Threescore Years, besides her Childhood, was Twelve Year a Whore, five times a Wife (whereof once to her own Brother), Twelve Year a Thief, Eight Year a Transported Felon in Virginia, at last grew Rich, liv'd Honest, and dies a Penitent. Written from her own diary. ... Read more