Robinson Crusoe is a famous story of shipwreck and survival, written by Daniel Defoe and first published in 1719. The book is a fictional autobiography of the title character-a castaway who spends 28 years on a remote tropical island, encountering Native Americans, captives and mutineers before being rescued. The novel can be divided into three parts: Robinson's youth and the time up to his shipwreck; his twenty-eight years on an uninhabited island; and his life and adventures after being rescued from the island. The story starts in the 17th century in England, moving on to North Africa, Brazil, an island off the coast of Venezuela and finally returning to Europe. In the first part of the novel, Robinson pursues his livelihood by going to sea. After a few false starts, he has some success but a third voyage ends in slavery. He eventually escapes and is helped to Brazil where he becomes a successful plantation owner. He embarks on a slave gathering expedition to West Africa but is shipwrecked off the coast of Venezuela in a terrible storm. The majority of the novel deals with Robinson's life on the island-how he accomplishes his survival and even establishes his "kingdom"; how he moves from a state of discontent to one of resignation and contentment; how he meets his companion Friday (named after the day of the week he appeared) and, finally, how he leaves the island. This publication of Robinson Crusoe is part of the Qualitas Classics Fireside Series, where pure, ageless classics are presented in clean, easy to read reprints. For a complete list of titles, see: http: //www.libraryoftheclassics.com