Robinson Crusoe, the first English novel, was an immediate success when first published in 1719, and has been an internationally popular classic ever since. The compelling tale of a man who put to sea in search of adventure and found himself shipwrecked on a desert island and alone for decades has become a resonant modern myth. Crusoe walking the limits of his small domain, a typical Englishman carrying his umbrella in the blazing tropics, is a figure familiar throughout the Western world.