The Life and Adventures of Alexander Selkirk, the Real Robinson Crusoe: A Narrative Founded on Facts. History of the Wanderings of Tom Starboard.

Before Daniel Defoe ever wrote a word, a real man lived this story. Alexander Selkirk was a troublesome Scottish sailor whose fiery temper and rebellious spirit led him to abandon his ship after a bitter quarrel with his captain, and a troubling dream that it would wreck. He requested to be put ashore on the remote island of Juan Fernandez, then changed his mind almost immediately. Too late. The boat had already pushed off, and Selkirk stood alone on an empty Pacific shore, watching his only way back to civilization disappear with the sound of retreating oars. What followed was four years of extraordinary solitude: building shelters, hunting goats, taming cats for company, and undergoing a profound spiritual transformation as his rough manners softened in the silence. When rescue finally came via English ships in 1709, he had become a different man, and the foundation for the most famous castaway story ever written. This is that original tale, the nonfiction account that sparked Robinson Crusoe into existence.