Robinson Crusoe, and A journal of the plague year

By Daniel Defoe

Subjects: Shipwreck survival, Robinson Crusoe (Fictitious character), Early works to 1800, Fiction, Plague, Survival after airplane accidents, shipwrecks, Social conditions, History

Description: Story of a terrible storm that drowns all of Crusoe's shipmates and leaves him marooned on a deserted island. Forced to overcome despair, doubt, and self-pity, he struggles to create a life for himself in the wilderness. From practically nothing, Crusoe painstakingly learns how to make pottery, grow crops, domesticate livestock, and build a house. His many adventures are recounted in vivid detail, including a fierce battle with cannibals and his rescue of Friday, the man who becomes his trusted companion. Defoe's account of the bubonic plague that swept London in 1665 remains as vivid as it is harrowing. Based on Defoe's own childhood memories and prodigious research, A Journal of the Plague Year walks the line between fiction, history, and reportage. In meticulous and unsentimental detail it renders the daily life of a city under siege; the often gruesome medical precautions and practices of the time.