Daniel Defoe 
The Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe 

Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe was first published on April 25, 1719 during the age of exploration and enlightenment. The world was actively explored, mapped, settled, and reported back to various European ports and capitals. Readers in the 1700’s considered long distance travel perhaps in the same way we regard space travel today – an exotic privileged accessible to a few well trained professions. The average reader of the period barely travelled a more than a few miles from their homes. Stories of far away places, exotic cultures and fanciful creatures were all the rage at that time. Defoe however did not rely on these motifs in order to craft an engaging story that has persisted beyond it’s 18th century companions. Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe was first published on April 25, 1719 during the age of exploration and enlightenment. The world was actively explored, mapped, settled, and reported back to various European ports and capitals. Readers in the 1700’s considered long distance travel perhaps in the same way we regard space travel today – an exotic privileged accessible to a few well trained professions. The average reader of the period barely travelled a more than a few miles from their homes. Stories of far away places, exotic cultures and fanciful creatures were all the rage at that time. Defoe however did not rely on these motifs in order to craft an engaging story that has persisted beyond it’s 18th century companions.