Daniel Defoe

With Robinson Crusoe, Defoe wrote what is regarded as the first English novel, and created one of the most popular and enduring myths in literature. Written in an age of exploration and enterprise, it has been variously interpreted as an embodiment of British imperialist values, as a portrayal of 'natural man', or as a moral fable. But above all, it...

The sole survivor of a shipwreck, Robinson Crusoe is stranded on an uninhabited island far from any shipping routes. At first, he is in despair, but slowly, with patience and ingenuity, he transforms his dismal island into a tropical paradise. But for twenty-four years he has no human company—until one Friday, he rescues a prisoner from a boatload of cannibals....

In 1665, the plague swept through London, claiming over 97,000 lives. Daniel Defoe was just five at the time of the plague, but he later called on his own memories, as well as his writing experience, to create this vivid chronicle of the epidemic and its victims. A Journal of the Plague Year (1722) follows Defoe's fictional narrator as he...

Who has not dreamed of life on an exotic isle, far away from civilisation? Here is the novel which has inspired countless imitations by lesser writers, none of which equal the power and originality of Defoe's famous book. 'I walk'd about on the shore, lifting up my hands, and my whole being, as I may say, wrapt up in the...

Puffin Classics: the definitive collection of timeless stories for every child. Rediscover the Puffin Classics collection and bring the best-loved classics to a new generation, including this thrilling edition of Robinson Crusoe. After surviving a terrible shipwreck, Robinson Crusoe discovers he is the only human on an island far from any shipping routes or rescue. At first, he is devastated,...

Moll Flanders is one of the best-selling novels of all time. This Norton Critical Edition is again based on the first edition text (1722), the only text known to be Defoe's own. It is accompanied by detailed explanatory annotations and the editor’s essay outlining the novel's textual history. Contexts collects related documents on criminal transport, contemporary accounts of lives of...

Michael Shinagel has collated the reprint with all six authorised editions published by Taylor in 1719 to achieve a text that is faithful to Defoe's original edition. Annotations assist the reader with obscure words and idioms, biblical references, and nautical terms. Contexts helps the reader understand the novel's historical and religious significance. Included are four contemporary accounts of marooned men,...

An abridged and illustrated chapter book retelling of Robinson Crusoe, part of the bestselling Classic Starts series that has sold more than 8 million copies! Young and impulsive, Robinson Crusoe thinks only of adventure and camaraderie when he runs away to become a sailor. Instead, he finds himself marooned on a deserted island, the sole survivor of a horrible shipwreck....

'I made him know his Name should be Friday, which was the Day I sav'd his Life...I likewise taught him to say Master.' Robinson Crusoe's seafaring adventures are abruptly ended when he is shipwrecked, the solitary survivor on a deserted island. He gradually creates a life for himself, building a house, cultivating the land, and making a companion from the...

Robinson Crusoe, published in 1719, is considered by many to be the first novel in English, and its success was so enormous that by the end of the nineteenth century it had spawned more translations and versions than any other previous English book. An everyman character who has become part of our cultural heritage, Defoe’s castaway – shipwrecked, imperilled and...

Born in Newgate prison and abandoned six months later, Moll's drive to find and hold on to a secure place in society propels her through incest, adultery, bigamy, prostitution and a resourceful career as a thief ('the greatest Artist of my time') before she is apprehended and returned to Newgate. If The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders...

'Twelve Year a Whore, fives times a Wife (whereof once to her own Brother), Twelve Year a Thief, Eight Year a Transported Felon in Virginia, at last grew Rich, liv'd Honest, and died a Penitent' So the title page of this extraordinary novel describes the career of the woman known as Moll Flanders, whose real name we never discover. And...

This striking hardback edition presents Daniel Defoe's classic tale of adventure, Robinson Crusoe, featuring gold cover embossing and gilded page-edges. After being shipwrecked on a desert island, mariner Robinson Crusoe spends over 30 years surviving in complete solitude. Until he spies a footprint on the shore and realises he is not as alone as he thought... Robinson Crusoe was first...

'It happened one day, about noon, going towards my boat, I was exceedingly surprised with the print of a man's naked foot on the shore...' Thus Defoe describes the heart-stopping moment when—after years of solitude—the world's most famous shipwrecked mariner discovers that he is not totally alone on his island. From its publication in 1719, and through many translations, Robinson...

A stunning new edition with deluxe cover treatments, ribbon markers, luxury endpapers and gilded edges. The unabridged text is accompanied by a glossary of Victorian and literary terms produced for the modern reader. After a dramatic shipwreck, Robinson Crusoe is a castaway on a tropical island for 28 years. Defoe's classic tale features a series of events involving mutineers and...

One man's love of the sea leaves him stranded on a desert island with nothing but a few goats, a bible, and a parrot for company. Will he ever escape? Will his new pal Friday learn to efficiently press a goatskin jerkin? Or will solitude send him totally barmy?