"Who was the real Robinson Crusoe? In search of the world's most famous castaway, Tim Severin travels where men were shipwrecked or abandoned in the days of the pirates and buccaneers... and lived to tell their tales of survival. " "A Scottish sailor, Alexander Selkirk, has long been considered the real-life inspiration for Crusoe. So Severin begins his quest on the island of Juan Fernandez, 400 miles off the coast of Chile, where Selkirk was marooned for four years. " "Seeking Robinson Crusoe combines travel to remote islands and shores with literary detective work. Its cast of characters ranges from rascally eighteenth-century sea captains to the present-day native peoples of the Caribbean rim, from a Scots schoolmaster to a research student from Canada who can speak the obscure Miskito language. A tale of adventure and discovery, Seeking Robinson Crusoe is a journey into myth and history. "--BOOK JACKET. This work is an exploration in to the legend behind Daniel Defoe's classic novel, citing possible places where this famous character could have been marooned. It rexamines the claim that Crusoe was based on a real life castaway, Alexander Selkirk.