Daniel Defoe (1660-1731)

The eighteenth century in England was a time of big changes. People built factories, made new machines, and traveled to many parts of the world. At that time, a famous book about a man who lived alone on an island appeared.

The man’s name is Robinson Crusoe. The title of the book is “The Life and Strange Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe”. The author is Daniel Defoe. He wrote this book when he was almost 60 years old.

The story of Robinson Crusoe is based on the real life of a sailor named Alexander Selkirk. He lived alone for four years on a desert island. But Defoe also added a lot of his own imagination to the story.

When the book was published in 1719, it became very popular. Defoe made the story so real that many people believed it really happened. Some sellers even tried to sell “pieces of Crusoe’s boat” or “parts of his goats”!

Defoe did not write the book for children. But today, almost every child knows the story of Robinson Crusoe: how he learned to catch goats, make pots, build a shelter, find Friday’s footprints, and live through many adventures.

Daniel Defoe wrote many other books, but he is most famous for “Robinson Crusoe”. Because of this book, he is called the “Father of English prose”.