Seeking Robinson Crusoe
Seeking Robinson Crusoe by Timothy Severin, published by Pan Books in 2003, explores the historical inspirations behind the iconic character of Robinson Crusoe. This edition, comprising 353 pages, delves into Severin’s journey to uncover the real-life stories of castaways and survivors from the age of pirates and buccaneers. The narrative begins with Alexander Selkirk, a Scottish sailor marooned for four years on the Juan Fernandez Islands, and extends to the tale of Lionel Wafer, an English buccaneer surgeon abandoned in Panama.
Readers will find a detailed account of Severin’s travels as he retraces the steps of these historical figures, meeting the Kuna tribe who rescued Wafer and sailing to Salt Tortuga to investigate the story of Henry Pitman, a runaway ‘white slave’ marooned by pirates. The book presents a rich tapestry of survival narratives that inspired Daniel Defoe’s classic work, offering insights into the real experiences that shaped the legend of Robinson Crusoe.
Official synopsis Publisher
Who was the real Robinson Crusoe? In search of the world’s most famous castaway Tim Severin travels where men were shipwrecked or abandoned in the days of the pirates and buccaneers… and lived to tell their tales of survival.
A Scottish sailor, Alexander Selkirk, has long been considered as the real life inspiration for Crusoe. So Severin begins his quest on the islands of Juan Fernandez 400 miles off the coast of Chile where Selkirk was marooned for four years.
Daniel Defoe, author of Robinson Crusoe, also knew the extraordinary survival tale of an English buccaneer surgeon, Lionel Wafer, wounded in a pirate raid and abandoned in the jungle of Panama. So Severin goes to meet the Indian tribe, the Kuna, who rescued him. Carrying on his journey he finally takes a 100 year old sailing boat to Salt Tortuga, a small uninhabited island off the coast of Venezuela. There he establishes the truth about a runaway ‘white slave’, Henry Pitman, marooned by pirates thirty years before Defoe created Crusoe…
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