Daniel Defoe

About Daniel Defoe

Daniel Defoe (1660–1731) was a pivotal English writer and journalist, best known as the author of Robinson Crusoe, one of the first true English novels. His influence across literature, politics, and the nascent field of journalism secured him a high rank of #731 in overall historical importance according to the Pantheon project. Beyond his famous fiction, Defoe was also a noted essayist and political commentator, often finding himself in trouble with the authorities for his controversial writings and pamphleteering during a dynamic period in British history.

In the modern digital landscape, Defoe's historical weight appears disproportionate to his current online visibility. He accrued 327K Wikipedia views in 2025, a figure that places his Attention Gap ratio at approximately 1x-suggesting his internet attention aligns closely with his cultural influence, unlike many figures whose relevance has sharply diverged. For context, this view count is notably lower than that of Miyamoto Musashi (#945 importance) who garnered 1.0M views, or Ursula K. Le Guin (#915 importance) with 812K views, showing that a contemporary literary figure with comparable historical standing may receive significantly more modern attention.

Looking closer at the trend data, Defoe's online interest is slightly waning, with a year-over-year change of -14.5% in 2025 views and a negative momentum of -8% when comparing Q1 to Q3 engagement, suggesting a slow drift from current top-of-mind historical searches.