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UNBELIEVABLE: Daniel defoe - The Untold Story

In 1704, Alexander Selkirk was marooned on a Pacific island for over 4 years. 15 years later, Daniel Defoe published Robinson Crusoe, making his survival story a classic

Alexander Selkirk was a Scottish sailor whose extraordinary experience of isolation became closely connected with Daniel Defoe’s famous novel The Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe. Born in Largo, Scotland, in 1676, Selkirk went to sea and became sailing master on the Cinque Ports. After a dispute with his captain,…

The Economic Times

The real Robinson Crusoe has been reimagined with historical accuracy – except for the talking goat

You might think you’ve already heard a story about someone marooned on an uninhabited island who needs to fight for survival. The iconic image of Tom Hanks desperately calling for Wilson, the anthropomorphised volley ball in Castaway (2000), probably comes to mind.

The Conversation

People were still complaining about potholes 300 years ago

‘Robinson Crusoe’ author Daniel Defoe among diarists to describe road craters as ‘insufferable’ and ‘ruinous’

The Independent UK

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The BBC’s Lord of the Flies shows why diverse casting doesn’t always work

William Golding’s classic tale is about civilisation, ‘savagery’ and empire – can a colour-blind cast do that justice, asks writer and academic Darren Chetty

The Guardian - UK

The Met reveals feminist take on porcelain that ‘has always elicited a strong reaction’

In a new exhibition, the ‘monstrous’ history of chinoiserie is used to discuss ideas of women and femininity

The Guardian - US

From pulpits to protest, the surprising history of the phrase ‘pride and prejudice’

Most readers hear “pride and prejudice” and immediately think of Jane Austen’s most famous novel, that salty-sweet confection of romance and irony with a fairy-tale ending.

The Conversation

As a survival game fan I finally got around to reading Robinson Crusoe, and wow, that dude was definitely playing in creative mode

The "hero" of Daniel Defoe's classic adventure had so much starting gear he may as well have been using the cheat console.

PC Gamer

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In brief: The Newsmongers; The Night in Venice; Vital Organs – review

An informed history of tabloid journalism; an atmospheric Edwardian-era mystery set in Italy; and a riotous study of famous people’s body parts

The Guardian - UK

Satire can spread online as misinformation. Here’s why we still shouldn’t label it

There has been much discussion in recent years about satire’s role in the online world – and the risks we face from it being misunderstood.

The Conversation

Pirates and politicians: what a 300-year-old book about the most notorious buccaneers reveals about British politics

Three hundred years ago, A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the Most Notorious Pyrates by Captain Charles Johnson first hit the shelves of London’s booksellers. The book aimed, according to Johnson, to give “a distinct Relation of every Pyrate who has made any Figure”.

The Conversation

David Attwood obituary

TV director whose powerful Bosnian war drama Shot Through the Heart focused on the personal over the political

The Guardian - UK

Explorers unlock the mystery of ‘pirate king’ Henry Avery who vanished after huge heist at sea

Letter reveals disappearance of 17th century British pirate was tied to William III’s spy ring, Daniel Defoe and an archbishop

The Guardian - UK

Paul Lynch: ‘After major illness Robinson Crusoe was the only thing I wanted to read’

The author and film critic on the healing powers of Daniel Defoe, his love for Latin American literature and how he got Virginia Woolf wrong

The Guardian - UK

The Fatal Breath: Covid-19 and Society in Britain by David Vincent review – a moving account of the plague of our times

This bold and forensic history of the pandemic, drawing on previously unpublished diaries, underlines the sheer scale of suffering, with the poor and isolated particularly badly hit

The Guardian - UK

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Evening Standard

Leaving London: how one couple swapped a one-bedroom flat in east London for a detached house on the Kent coast

Priced out of Walthamstow, this family decided to look ‘a bit further out’ — and ended up in the seaside town of Whitstable

The Guardian - UK

A Wild & True Relation by Kim Sherwood review – smugglers and lovers

A brooding hero, a kidnapped heroine and lusty couplings in a swashbuckling yarn that plays knowingly with the romantic genre

Daily Mirror

Travel-mad baby has gone to 24 countries in 20 months - and visited 11 in the womb

Crusoe Newby was named after the Daniel Defoe castaway book character and has been travelling with his mum and dad since before he was born. Now the family share their adventures with fans on YouTube

The Guardian - UK

Pirate Enlightenment, or the Real Libertalia by David Graeber review – utopia by the sea

The late anthropologist on how an 18th-century Madagascan microstate provides a model for egalitarian living

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The Conversation

William Wordsworth and the Romantics anticipated today's idea of a nature-positive life

Musical performances usually happen in concert halls or clubs, but famed cellist Yo-Yo Ma is exploring a new venue: U.S. national parks. In a project called Our Common Nature, Ma is performing in settings such as the Great Smoky Mountains and the Grand Canyon. By making music and bringing people…

The Conversation

Cumbrian coal: the 18th-century poem that perfectly encapsulated Whitehaven’s mining culture

The debates waged over the opening of the Woodhouse Colliery in Whitehaven, Cumbria, have laid bare starkly different views about the steps the UK should take to honour its net zero commitments.

Daily Mirror

Incredible true story of Brit marooned alone on island for four years

The hot-headed pirate who fell into a fateful argument that left him stranded on a desert island in the Pacific has remained an influential tale more than 300 years on

The Conversation

How the West discovered the Buddha

Buddhism is the third largest (and fastest growing) religion in Australia with approximately half a million adherents.

Bristol Post

King Street's history of slave trade, pirates and one of England's most famous books

It's said that Daniel Defoe met his inspiration for Robinson Crusoe in a pub on King Street

People

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