Daniel Defoe's 1719 English novel follows a shipwrecked sailor who survives alone on a tropical island for decades, building shelter, taming animals, and confronting isolation. This pioneering work of realistic fiction explores themes of survival, civilization, and human resilience through Crusoe's detailed first-person account of his extraordinary ordeal.
I was born in the year 1632, in the city of York, of a good family, though not of that country, my father being a foreigner of Bremen, who settled first at Hull. He got a good estate by merchandise, and leaving off his trade, lived afterwards at York, from whence he had married my mother, whose relations were named Robinson, a very good family in that country, and from whom I was called Robinson Kreutznaer; but, by the usual corruption of words in England, we are now called—nay, we call ourselves and write our name—Crusoe; and so my companions always called me. I had two elder brothers, one of whom was lieutenant-colonel to an English regiment of foot in Flanders, formerly commanded by the famous Colonel Lockhart, and was killed at the battle near Dunkirk against the Spaniards. What became of my second brother I never knew, any more than my father or mother knew what became of me. Being …Continue reading →
Born around 1660, this English writer lived through plague, fire, and political upheaval before penning what many consider the first true English novel. His masterpiece Robinson Crusoe revolutionized storytelling with its realistic first-person narrative and psychological depth. He transformed literature by making ordinary people the heroes of extraordinary adventures. All works by Daniel Defoe →
Browse all Fiction · 17th-18th C works