Daniel Defoe

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Quoted extensively throughout the episode as the hosts read passages from Defoe's descriptions of Rochester and Chatham, noting it was published in 1724 and was his best-selling book after Robinson Crusoe.

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Mentioned briefly as the only Defoe book that outsold his Tour Through the Whole Island of Great Britain.

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Mentioned as the book that inspired Captain Alexander Ball to go to sea. The hosts discuss its historical significance in inspiring naval careers.

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Mentioned as one of the top four books read by British children as late as 1940.

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Referenced when discussing the Enlightenment's fascination with the idea of the savage - 'you see that in Robinson Crusoe'

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Mentioned as possibly the very first historical novel, written 70 years after Great Plague of London