ABSTRACT
Defoe got embroiled in the Western rising in the following year: and since he was on the side of the loser, Monmouth, he only survived to write at all by dint of an official pardon. His support of William of Orange in 1688 was a more prudent decision; yet he was getting badly tangled up in his business affairs. At all events, Defoe early acquired first-hand experience of pressure, financial and psychological, and knew what it was to feel an outcast. Robinson Crusoe is the best novel Defoe ever wrote for one fundamental reason. Defoe goes on to describe Crusoe's return to England, his voyage to Lisbon and overland trip back to Calais. Defoe proposes the establishment of a university in London; recommends the ousting of Italian opera in favour of an English academy of music; and generally bustles around with ambitious schemes.
