Crusoe

It is January 1719 and Daniel Defoe, almost sixty, sits at a table, writing. He is troubled with gout and debt, but for now is preoccupied with a younger man on a barren shore – Robinson Crusoe, for which he will principally be remembered. Several miles south, an old man, Robert Knox, is bent over a heavy volume. It is Historical Relation , his account of being held captive on Ceylon, published forty years ago after he escaped and returned to England. It has long been out of print, but a copy pe