In search of Robinson Crusoe

the long version

"This book seeks to discover the actual man and adventures behind the remarkable life of Scottish sailor Alexander Selkirk (1676-1721), the "real-life Robinson Crusoe" who inspired Daniel Defoe's classic novel of a castaway's ordeal and survival.". "Daisuke Takahashi, a world traveler and Elected Fellow of both the Explorers Club in New York and the Royal Geographical Society in London, spent seven years searching for the truth behind the legend. His journey ranged from the village of Lower Largo in Scotland, where Selkirk was raised, to Robinson Crusoe Island (four hundred miles off the coast of Chile), a largely uninhabitable islet where Selkirk was stranded from 1704 to 1709.". "Based not only on contemporary diaries, letters, and memoirs but also on Takahashi's own research, this work brings to life Selkirk's extraordinary ordeal. Equal parts history, detective story, travel writing, and true adventure tale, In Search of Robinson Crusoe removes encrusted myths to reveal a man whose adventures surpassed those of Defoe's fictional creation."--BOOK JACKET.