John Mullan

John Mullan is a Professor of English at University College, London. He specializes in 18th century fiction in general and the novels of Daniel Defoe in particular. He has edited 'Robinson Crusoe' and 'Moll Flanders' for Everyman. In addition to his academic work he writes a weekly column on contemporary fiction for 'The Guardian' newspaper. This column was used as the basis for his book 'How Novels work', which was first published by Oxford University Press in 2006. In this book Professor Mullan examined in detail the novel writer's craft through an analysis of the various techniques used by novelists in their work. He drew on examples from both the classics of English literature such as Daniel Defoe's 'Robinson Crusoe' and 'Emma' by Jane Austen, as well as contemporary novels like Margaret Atwood's 'The Blind Assassin' and 'Atonement' by Ian McEwan. In 2007 Faber and Faber published his book 'Anonymity', a study of the various authors in the history of English literature who chose to publish their books anonymously. On 11th February 2009 the digital channel BBC4 broadcast his documentary film, 'How Reading Made us Modern', in which he examined the dramatic increase in reading which took place in the 18th century, and how reading went from being the preserve of the rich to the national pastime it is today.