Shorter Notices
Daniel Defoe. By Francis Watson. (Long- mans. 10s. 6d.) How Defoe ever found time to write, seeing all that he did, or how he found a moment in which to do anything, seeing what an enormous quantity he wrote, fills one anew with wonder every time one reads about him. And nothing is harder than to give a coherent account of his tortuous and tangled life, now in the royal favour, now in prison or pillory ; at one moment in the public limelight, at the next in hiding • a man of enormous power and none at all, a man tremendously wise in " negoce " and perpetually bankrupt—a man rushing all over England, helping to advise govern- ments, spying, reporting, lying and telling the truth, at once brave and pusillanimous, and always scribbling, scribbling, scribbling, inventing the novel and the leading article and mapping out the Welfare State, Mr. Watson has managed admirably, handling his facts in a way that only complete famili- arity with them can enable a man to do— sometimes perhaps a little confusingly for anyone first reading about Defoe—and with a sure knowledge of the background. He conveys it all in a vigorous prose (it would be well if he were sometimes to alter his pace a little) which compels one to go on ' - he is never dull nor overwhelmed by his mass of material, that is, he is never stodgy, which seeing how much he has got into so small a space is no mean achievement. It is true that he does not add to our knowledge about Defoe ; his book is not so " defin- itive " a biography as Professor James Sutherlarid's, and here and there he offers a controversial point as a fact. Did Defoe " certainly " write about the Great Fire ? Is the facsimile of his hand beyond doubt authentic ? But here at all events is a sound book which tells enough about Defoe for those who do not want to investigate details for themselves, in Trent, Dottin, Secord and others, a useful, readable book, which would be improved by the addition of a brief biblio- graphy, not of Defoe's writings, which is there, but of other authorities. B. D.
Previous page
