Robinson Crusoe – Daniel Defoe

"I was born in the year 1632, in the city of York, of a good family."

Robinson Crusoe, a young Englishman driven by a restless desire for travel, defies his father's advice and goes to sea. After being captured by pirates and escaping, he is shipwrecked during a violent storm and washes up alone on a deserted island near Trinidad. For twenty-eight years, he struggles to survive, building a shelter, cultivating crops, and finding God in his solitude, until he rescues a native prisoner he names Friday.

Published in 1719, this is often cited as the first true novel in English. It is the ultimate survival story, exploring themes of spiritual autobiography, colonialism, and human resilience.