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.
Robinson Crusoe, published in 1719, is considered by many to be the first novel in English, and its success was so enormous that by the end of the nineteenth century it had spawned more translations and versions than any other previous English book. An everyman character who has become part of our cultural heritage, Defoe's castaway - shipwrecked, imperilled and facing a host of elemental challenges - lives an archetypal life of survival, adventure and personal development. On one level a simple adventure story, while at the same time an allegory, a quest novel and a spiritual autobiography, Robinson Crusoe has captured the imagination of readers for nearly three centuries.
