Colonel Jack - Daniel Defoe

Colonel Jack is a classic crime fiction novel by Daniel Defoe, which chronicles the life journey of a young orphan who adapts his nickname into an identity to aid his social standing.
Originally published under a much lengthier title, as was custom in 18th century books, the story gained recognition for its lengthy narrative and adventurous tone. After formative years spent pickpocketing, Jack eventually sees the damage his thievery has wrought on other lives and resolves to live differently. Eventually he becomes 'Colonel Jacque', adopting French mannerisms and speech inflections to aid his passage through the upper classes of English society.
This book shares a common theme with Defoe's more famous work Moll Flanders, in that the protagonists marry multiple times and resort to crime and deception as a means of advancing in society. The presence of colonial America and Spain as a trading nation, together with the wars of Europe, also offer up the fast changing world which characterised Defoe's period.