Robinson Crusoe

Ignoring his father’s warnings, Robinson Crusoe leaves York for the sea in 1651 and moves through shipwreck, enslavement, escape and plantation life in Brazil. While sailing towards West Africa to obtain enslaved labour, he is wrecked on an apparently uninhabited island near the coast of South America. Salvage from the ship, disciplined labour and repeated experiment allow him to build shelter, grow food, keep animals and survive decades of isolation.

The arrival of Friday ends Crusoe’s solitude but also reveals the colonial assumptions through which he interprets possession, religion and authority. Later encounters with mutineers and visitors enable his eventual return to England after twenty-eight years. Defoe combines a compelling account of practical endurance with a foundational narrative of maritime trade, Protestant self-examination, enslavement and European expansion.