“September 30, 1659. I , poor miserable Robinson Crusoe, being shipwrecked, during a dreadful storm, in the offing, came on shore on this dismal unfortunate island, which I called the Island of Despair, all the rest of the ship’s company being drowned, and myself almost dead.”

Just eleven years short of its 300th anniversary, Robinson Crusoe has well established itself amongst the top titles of adventure classics. Popular from the day it was published, it is the fictional autobiography of a man shipwrecked on a distant tropical island, where he lives for twenty eight years before being rescued. During the course of the story the castaway establishes a new life of both struggle and freedom as he negotiates the basics of human survival - food, shelter, water - using both the resources of the island and equipment salvaged from his wrecked sailing vessel. Hard work, patience, and trust in god all figure into his continued perseverance.
Crusoe is a character, along with Man Friday (introduced later in the story), that has become a permanent part of the desert island mystique for almost three centuries now. Truly a tale for the ages.

Robinson Crusoe (Modern Library Classics)

Other Facts (from Wikipedia) :

• Robinson Crusoe is sometimes regarded as the first novel in English.
• By the end of the 19th century, no book in the history of Western literature had spawned more editions, spin-offs, and translations than Robinson Crusoe, with more than 700 such alternative versions, including children’s versions with mainly pictures and no text.
• The story was most likely influenced by the real-life events of Alexander Selkirk, a Scottish castaway who lived more than four years on the Pacific island that was called Más a Tierra (in 1966 its name became Robinson Crusoe Island), Chile.

See Also:

• An Island to Oneself by Tom Neale who lived alone in the Cook Islands for 16 years total during 3 different times.
• EscapeArtist.com - islands for sale around the world.

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