Furbank and Owens attempt to disentangle the story of Daniel Defoe's political career, as journalist, polemicist, political theorist and secret agent. They argue that this remarkable career calls for a good deal of rethinking, not least because biography and bibliography are here inextricably intertwined.

Introduction; Chapter 1 Poetry, Pamphleteering and the Pillory; Chapter 2 Defoe and the Dead King; Chapter 3 The Author of the Review; Chapter 4 Propagandist for the Union; Chapter 5 'Maintaining A Counter Correspondence'; Chapter 6 1710: The Fateful Step; Chapter 7 Defoe and the Whig Split; Chapter 8 The Return of The Prodigal;