Daniel Defoe was an English trader, writer, journalist, pamphleteer and spy. He is most famous for his novel Robinson Crusoe, which is second only to the Bible in its number of translations. Capitan Sinfleton recounts the tale of Bob Singleton, a man who goes to sea at the age of twelve, makes a fortune, then loses it. Defoe here offers a searching exploration of society from the point of view of its outcasts.