Robinson Crusoe

Michael Shinagel has meticulously assembled this Norton Critical Edition by collating all six authorized Taylor editions from 1719 to produce a text that remains true to Daniel Defoe's original masterpiece. Extensive annotations clarify obscure words, idioms, biblical allusions, and nautical terms, ensuring that every reader can fully appreciate the language and nuance of the novel. Supplementary materials enrich the text with insightful contextual essays that illuminate the historical and religious significance of the work. The edition features contemporary accounts of marooned men and includes Defoe’s autobiographical reflections on the novel’s allegorical foundations as well as elements of the Puritan emblematic tradition. Further critical perspectives are presented through analyses of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century opinions from prominent figures such as Alexander Pope, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and Samuel Johnson, among others. In addition, a collection of fourteen essays under “Twentieth-Century Criticism” offers a variety of viewpoints on Robinson Crusoe, deepening our understanding of its enduring impact. A detailed chronology of Defoe’s life and work, accompanied by an updated selected bibliography, rounds out this essential critical edition of a literary classic.