When Robinson Crusoe left the English coast for Africa, he never dreamed he'd soon find himself on a desert island, the sole survivor of a shipwreck. Daniel Defoe's gripping adventure-one of the first English novels-chronicles Crusoe's experiences on the island, which include finding a human footprint on the shore, encountering cannibals, and befriending a native whom Crusoe calls Friday. Crusoe's story is also an account of one man's physical survival and his psychological and spiritual development in an alienating and dangerous solitude. This classic novel, published in 1719, remains one of the most famous and resonant myths in literature.