CHAPTER IX.
THE PLACE OF DEFOE'S FICTIONS IN HIS LIFE.
Those of my readers who have thought of Defoe only as a writer of stories which young and old still love to read, must not be surprised that so few pages of this little book should be left for an account of his work in that field.

No doubt Defoe's chief claim to the world's interest is that he is the author of _Robinson Crusoe_.

But there is little to be said about this or any other of Defoe's tales in themselves.

Their art is simple, unique, incommunicable, and they are too well known to need description.

On the other hand, there is much that is worth knowing and not generally known about the relation of these works to his life, and the place that they occupy in the sum total of his literary activity.