If This Is Friday, We Must Be Marooned

Defoe's "Robinson Crusoe" was long thought to belong in the realm of "imaginary travel," and to some extent that may be so. But, as is now common knowledge, the book was based on the experiences of Scottish mariner Alexander Selkirk. The castaway was rescued by Capt. Woodes Rogers, a very successful privateer. Rogers, a friend of Defoe, mentions Selkirk in his diary. A hundred copies of the diary are thought to survive, including this recent find.