When Daniel Defoe's "Robinson Crusoe" was first published in 1719, many of its earliest readers believed it to be a true story. Although the book was only ostensibly an account of a real incident, it was in fact based upon the experiences of Alexander Selkirk (1676-1721). A Scottish privateer and Royal Navy officer, Selkirk was marooned by his captain for four years and four months between 1704 and 1709 on an uninhabited island in the South Pacific...
Related Subjects
History