With his fictional life report of a shipwrecked man, Daniel Defoe created a unique genre that has been cultivated in literature and film: the Robinsonade. Upon its release in 1719, the novel sold rapidly and is still considered a classic of adventure literature. It is described as an "epoch-making book" (Süddeutsche Zeitung) and at the same time serves as an exciting document of the European worldview during the colonial era, unabridged and newly translated by Rudolf Mast. Includes a concise biography of the author.