Robinson Crusoe

In Robinson Crusoe, Daniel Defoe creates one of the first major pieces of realistic fiction, a seminal work in the development of this literary genre. The 1719 novel combines epistolary, confessional, and didactic techniques to create a fictional autobiography of the titular character. The British seaman Crusoe lives nearly 30 years on an island near Trinidad, after being the lone survivor of a shipwreck. The novel tells of Crusoe’s struggle to survive and his adventures involving cannibals, captives, and mutineers, before he finally makes it back home to England. Explore this literary classic in its original, unabridged form.