Daniel Defoe's Robinson Cursoe & Alexander Selkirk

Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe and Alexander Selkirk
by Stu and Stevey Bruce

I got this book from LibraryThing's Early Reviewers. It is subtitled "The Unique Dual Autobiography of The Famous Island Castaways." The authors have added notes to the margins to tell of the differences and the similiarities of the two mens lives. Both had a calming faith in God and a Panglos attitude that "everythng was for the best." Both daily read their bible and both learned to cultivate what they needed from the island.

Alexander Selkirk was marooned on an island by his ship's captain because he complained about the condition of the ship they were on. He spent 4 years there before he was rescued. He was proven right a month later when the ship, Cinque Ports, sank.

Unlike Crusoe, Selkirk didn't keep a journal. What is know of him is gathered from one interview he gave and from the logs of Woodes Rogers, the captain of the ship that rescued him. But, the public were facinated with the story and Daniel Defoe was inspired to write Robinson Crusoe.

I was amazed that my interest held out over chapter after chapter of how Crusoe survived. He was building fortressess, taming goats, growing crops and avoiding canibals. This was before he found Friday. It really is a great book. And I liked the notes on Selkirk's life.