Daniel Defoe's famous novel was inspired by the true story of an 18th Century castaway, but the real Robinson Crusoe island bears little resemblance to its fictional counterpart. ... Its link to Daniel Defoe's book dates back to 1704 when a British buccaneer ship called at the island.

Was Robinson Crusoe a real or an imaginary character?

Robinson Crusoe, one of the best-known characters in world literature, a fictional English seaman who is shipwrecked on an island for 28 years.

What happened to Robinson Crusoe?

His captors sent Crusoe out to fish, and he used this to his advantage and escaped, along with a slave. He was rescued by a Portuguese ship and started a new adventure. ... After surviving a storm, Crusoe and the others were shipwrecked. He was thrown upon shore only to discover that he was the sole survivor of the wreck.