Robert James Merrett is a professor in the Department of English and Film Studies at the University of Alberta.

• AcknowledgementsPreface1 Contraries: Linguistic, Narrative, and Theological2 Just Reflections3 Serious Reflections: An Apology for Faith and Fiction4 Biblical Allusions as Narrative Resources5 Political Impersonations and Cultural Implications6 Political Imaginings: Sacred and Profane7 Marriage and Matrimony: Ideological and Fictional Contraries8 Defoe’s Imaginary: Narrative Inference, Figurative Expression, and Spiritual CognitionBibliographyIndex

‘Daniel Defoe, Contrarian is an impressive piece of work, closely grounded in primary sources, and scholars working with those sources will benefit from serious engagement with this study. In scope and erudition, it is a book to admire.’ - Ashley Marshall (Journal of Eighteenth Century Fiction, vol 26:03:2014) ‘Merrett’s book does admirable justice to the complexity and artistry of Defoe as a prose writer… This study is an important contribution to Defoe scholarship and will spur future contributions.’- Nicholas Seager (Journal for Eighteenth-Century Studies, vol 38:02:2015) ‘There are many excellent things about Mr. Merrett’s most recent book on Defoe. He writes with a full grasp of Defoe’s cannon and is not afraid of deviating from the bibliography amassed by P.N. Furbank and W.R Owens.’- Maximillian Novak (The Scriblerian December 2015)