The 18th-century British novelist who wrote Robinson Crusoe is Daniel Defoe.
Robinson Crusoe was first published on 25 April 1719, when Defoe was in his late fifties. The novel follows a mariner who is shipwrecked and lives alone on a remote island for 28 years before being rescued. Its detailed account of work, survival, faith, and self-reliance helped make it one of the most influential English adventure novels.
The book was originally presented as if Crusoe himself had written the account, encouraging some early readers to treat it as a true travel narrative. Defoe may have drawn on real castaway stories, especially that of the Scottish sailor Alexander Selkirk, but Robinson Crusoe is a work of fiction.
Defoe’s novel is often called the first English novel, but that description is debated. Earlier works by writers such as Aphra Behn and John Bunyan are also proposed as contenders, depending on how “novel” and “English” are defined. That scholarly dispute does not affect the quiz answer: Defoe is unquestionably the author of Robinson Crusoe.
The novel’s many imitations gave rise to the term “Robinsonade,” describing stories about isolated people surviving in unfamiliar environments.