An Essay on Projects

Daniel Defoe (1660-1731) was a prolific English writer, who is mostly known for the adventure novel 'The adventures Of Robinson Crusoe'. Defoe was a tradesman but many trading campaigns he took part in went bankrupt. Daniel Defoe now is considered one of those writers who influenced the development of novel as the genre in England. Besides novels Defoe also wrote political pamphlets and worked as a journalist writing on a great variety of topics. In his pamphlets he defended the individual liberty and the freedom of speech.


'An Essay Upon Projects' was published in 1697. It's an ingenuine work brilliantly revealing the way an English mind works, represented by Daniel Defoe. In this essay Defoe expresses his thoughts about projects, the meaning of this word, developing his own approach to the conception of a project. He traces the history of projects till the ancient times, taking Noa's Arc, or Babylon as examples. This text can be interesting for those who study law, history and literature, as well as for admirers of Defoe's literary talent.