Robinson Crusoe

Robinson Crusoe, a novel by Daniel Defoe, was first published on 25 April 1719. It was published under the complete title The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, Of York, Mariner: Who lived Eight and Twenty Years, all alone in an un-inhabited Island on the Coast of America, near the Mouth of the Great River of Oroonoque; Having been cast on Shore by Shipwreck, wherein all the Men perished but himself. With An Account how he was at last as strangely deliver'd by Pyrates. The story has since been perceived to be based on the life of Alexander Selkirk, a Scottish castaway who lived for four years on a Pacific island called "Más a Tierra", now part of Chile. The name of the island was changed to Robinson Crusoe Island in 1966, but various literary sources have also been put forward. The book went on to become one of the most widely published books in history, spawning numerous sequels and adaptations for stage, film, and television.