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Ratings: ★★★★☆ (4/5)
Genre: Biography, History, Literary Criticism, Sri Lankan History

Book Review :
Katherine Frank's Crusoe is a fascinating and meticulously researched work of literary detection that explores the real-life origins of one of English literature's most enduring myths: Robinson Crusoe. The book brilliantly intertwines the lives of two men. The first is Daniel Defoe, the aging, debt-ridden author who, in 1719, created the story of a castaway that would make him famous. The second is Robert Knox, a 17th-century English sea captain who was held captive for nineteen years (1660-1679) in the kingdom of Kandy in Ceylon (modern-day Sri Lanka). After his daring escape, Knox published a hugely popular account of his experiences, An Historical Relation of the Island Ceylon, which was filled with vivid details of survival, isolation, and encounter with a foreign culture. Frank argues persuasively that Defoe almost certainly drew upon Knox's memoir when writing Robinson Crusoe. The book is not only a double biography but also a travelogue and a detective story, tracing the journey from Knox's captivity to Defoe's study and the birth of a literary icon. It is a must-read for anyone interested in the history of the novel, Sri Lankan history, and the making of a myth.