Robinson Crusoe

A portrait of the English writer Daniel Defoe, c. 1702. His famous work Robinson Crusoe was written when he was nearly sixty years old. Based on the true story of the sailor Alexander Selkirk, the book tells how the fictional shipwrecked Crusoe battles for survival in virtual solitude.

Novel by Daniel Defoe, published in 1719. It tells the story of a man shipwrecked alone on a desert island. His attempts to ensure his physical and mental survival are thoroughly documented before he meets another castaway, ‘Man Friday’, who he treats as his pupil and servant. Defoe freely embroiders the real-life ordeal of Alexander Selkirk which inspired the book. Robinson Crusoe is generally regarded as the first major English novel.