Marc Mierowsky: Daniel Defoe the English Spy (1706)

Most people know Daniel Defoe as one of the great writers in the history of English literature. But the author of Robinson Crusoe was much more than that. A rabble rousing pamphleteer and erratic entrepreneur, in the early years of the eighteenth century Defoe also became an undercover political operative.

Defoe's career as a spy intersected with a huge moment in British history when the Act of Union between England and Scotland was being planned in 1706. Today's guest, the historian Marc Mierowsky, revisits this time in today's episode – analysing a series of events that were crucial to the genesis of Great Britain 

Marc Mierowsky is the author of A Spy Amongst Us. 

Scene One: July 1706. The Cockpit in Whitehall. The Scottish and the English commissioners finally settle on the terms of the treaty for the Act of Union.

Scene Two: 23 October 1706. Edinburgh. The treaty has been sent north - it is being debated in the Scottish parliament -- and a riot breaks out. Defoe is a witness to the disorder.

Scene Three: December 1706. The west of Scotland. Defoe deploys agent John Pierce to infiltrate the Hebronites.

Memento: Daniel Defoe's familiar letters.

Presenter: Peter Moore

Guest: Marc Mierowsky

Production: Maria Nolan

Theme music: Firelight by Minka