Selkirk's Island - Softcover

Diana Souhami

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1782060316 ISBN 13: 9781782060314

Publisher: Quercus Publishing, 2013

Synopsis

Piracy and betrayal frame the epic story of solitary endurance that inspired Daniel Defoe`s classic novel. Who was the real Robinson Crusoe? And what did he really experience during his solitary stay on a remote island in the Pacific? Diana Souhami`s revelatory account of Alexander Selkirk`s adventures on the high seas and dry land leads us to the answers to both these questions, and explores the reality behind the romance of privateering on the high seas. Born to a poor Scottish family, Selkirk signed on with an ill-fated quest to sack the famous Manila galleon, one of the richest prizes on the southern seas. After a series of misfortunes and disagreements among the crew, Selkirk was put ashore on an island three hundred miles west of South America, where he spent four years learning to survive with little more than his bare hands. Acclaimed biographer Diana Souhami evokes all the strangeness and wonder of his story and interprets the haze created by three centuries of literature and legend. The result is a brilliantly lucid and lyrical recovery and discovery of a forgotten man and his unforgettable experience.

About this title

About the Author:

Diana Souhami is the author of The Trials of Radclyffe Hall (shortlisted for the James Tait Black Prize for Biography and winner of the US Lambda Literary Award), the bestselling Mrs Keppel and Her Daughter (also winner of the Lambda Literary Award and a New York Times 'Notable Book of the Year'). Her latest book is Murder at Wrotham Hill. She lives in London and Devon.

Review:

'A book that is as hypnotic and compelling as the island that forms its real subject. A great adventure story, a great read and a real advance for the art of biography' Whitbread Judging Panel. * Whitbread Judging Panel * 'Masterly. Souhami's excellent book should be read for its insight into a vanished world' Beryl Bainbridge, New Statesman. * New Statesman * 'Souhami skilfully conjures the whiff of raki in strange ports, the comfort of nameless women and the pain of scurvy-swollen gums, opening a window onto the perilous life of the eighteenth-century privateer' Literary Review. * Literary Review * 'A delight from the moment the reader opens it' Christina Hardyment, Independent. * Independent *

About this edition

• Publisher: Quercus Publishing
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 1782060316
• ISBN 13: 9781782060314
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 256