The sole survivor of a shipwreck, Robinson Crusoe is stranded on an
uninhabited island far away from any shipping routes. With patience and
ingenuity, he transforms his island into a tropical paradise. For
twenty-four years he has no human company, until one Friday, he rescues
a prisoner from a boat of cannibals.
With Robinson Crusoe, Defoe wrote what is regarded as the
first English novel, and created one of the most popular and enduring
myths in literature. Written in an age of exploration and enterprise,
it has been variously interpreted as an embodiment of British
imperialist values, as a portrayal of 'natural man', or as a moral
fable. But above all it is a brilliant narrative.
HarperCollins is proud to present its new range of best-loved, essential classics.
'It happen'd one Day about Noon going towards my Boat, I was exceedingly surpriz'd with the Print of a Man's naked Foot on the Shore.'
Shipwrecked in a storm at sea, Robinson Crusoe is washed up on a remote and desolate island. As he struggles to piece together a life for himself, Crusoe's physical, moral and spiritual values are tested to the limit. For 24 years he remains in solitude and learns to tame and master the island, until he finally comes across another human being. Considered a classic literary masterpiece, and frequently interpreted as a comment on the British Imperialist approach at the time, Defoe's fable was and still is revered as the very first English novel.
