“The surprise ‘must-read’ for people facing the Covid-19 epidemic.” —The Telegraph In 1665 the plague swept through London, claiming over 97,000 lives. Daniel Defoe was just five at the time of the plague, but he later called on his own memories, as well as his writing experience, to create this vivid chronicle of the epidemic and its victims. A Journal (1722) follows Defoe's fictional narrator as he traces the devastating progress of the plague through the streets of London. Here we see a city transformed: some of its streets suspiciously empty, some—with crosses on their doors—overwhelmingly full of the sounds and smells of human suffering. And every living citizen he meets has a horrifying story that demands to be heard. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
About the Author
Daniel Defoe was many people in one man: a trader, a writer, a traveller, and a spy. He was born in London on September 13, 1660. He is most famous for his novel Robinson Crusoe and is considered among the founders of the English novel along with Aphra Behn and Samuel Richardson. His other notable fictional works include The Farther Adventures of Robinson Crusoe (1719), Memoirs of a Cavalier (1720), A Journal of the Plague Year (1722), and Moll Flanders (1722). Defoe also wrote various pamphlets, often giving a critical judgement on the current political scenarios. His An Essay upon Projects (1697) was published as a series which advocated social and economic improvements. He also satirised the English notion of racial purity in his poem "The True-Born Englishman" (1701). Defoe died at the age of 70 in London on April 24, 1731.
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