This Norton Critical Edition includes:

• The complete first edition (1722) text of the novel.
• Albert J. Rivero's revised preface, annotations, and essay on the novel's textual history.
• A selection of contextual materials, including documents on convict transportation and colonial laws, contemporary accounts of criminals, and a brand-new selection of Defoe's own writings on similar issues.
• Nine critical interpretations--five of which are new to the Second Edition--analyzing important themes, such as economic necessity and gender relations.
• A chronology of Defoe's life and a selected bibliography.