A young man goes to sea against his father's advice, survives storms, slavery and a shipwreck, and finds himself alone on an island where the only proof another human exists is a single footprint. Defoe was fifty-nine when he published it, had been pilloried and imprisoned for his pamphlets, and wrote it as a true account by the man himself — most of his first readers believed it.
Daniel Defoe (ca 1660–1731) var en brittisk författare, verksam under upplysningstiden. Mest känd för sin bok The life and strange surprising adventures of Robinson Crusoe.