In Search of Robinson Crusoe

Design by Janice Tapia. For nearly three centuries, Robinson Crusoe has been the archetypal castaway, the symbol of survival in uninhabited wilds. In this book, Tim Severin adds this enterprising hero to the roster of legendary figures whose adventures he's replicated and whose origins he's explored. With the signature approach to literary and historical sleuthing that has led the "New York Times" to describe him as "original, audacious, and exuberant," Severin uncovers the seaman's world that captured Daniel Defoe's imagination, recounting dramatic survival stories of sailors, pirates, castaways, and native Americans and replicating their journeys to experience for himself the adventures that inspired Robinson Crusoe. He camps on islands that famous castaways once survived on, undertakes a perilous sea voyage, and searches Nicaragua and Honduras for the Miskutu Indians, the tribe that the model for Crusoe's companion, Friday, belonged to. Tim Severin has once again demonstrated a superb ability to bring together literature, history and adventure in an engrossing narrative. "Severin adds the world's most famous castaway to the roster of legendary figures whose adventures he has explored. In his signature approach to literary sleuthing, Severin uncovers the seaman's world that captured Daniel Defoe's imagination and then tracks to their source the tales of the real life castaways whose adventures informed the tale of Robinson Crusoe." "The vivid stories of sailors washed ashore from shipwrecks, buccaneers on the run, white slaves escaping from pirates and mutineers fleeing tyrannical captains were the mix from which Defoe conjured The Life And Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe. These real life seafarers survived the unimaginable with considerably less grace than the fictional hero they inspired, but they too were remarkably enterprising men who built their own escape vessels, waited years for friendly ships, and ate what they could find." "Tim Severin travels to the sites of these amazing survival stories, camping on islands and visiting jungles to put to the test the adventures of likely models for Crusoe and his companion Man Friday."--BOOK JACKET.

A master adventure writer and explorer retraces the journeys of castaways and pirates to discover the inspiration behind Daniel Defoe's brilliant creation, Robinson Crusoe

National Geographic Adventure Magazine

It's hard to say which is more interesting—the history Severin so capably writes or his own adventures in the odd, forlorn places his research takes him to. He knows how to blend his ingredients to generate the kind of heat a reader wants from a book.

Insightful travel writing, riveting narrative history, and clever scholarly discoveries make this a remarkably rich and varied book. Tim Severin has once again demonstrated a superb ability to bring together literature and adventure in an engrossing narrative. With his signature approach to literary sleuthing, Tim Severin retraces the footsteps of castaways and pirates to discover the inspiration behind Daniel Defoe's brilliant creation, Robinson Crusoe.