300 years after it was first published, Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe remains hugely influential and hotly debated. Since its initial release in 1719, discussions have surrounded the novel’s depiction of individual solitude and work, colonial and racial relations, and mankind’s relationship with the rest of the animal world. James Dunkerley OBE is Professor of Politics at Queen Mary, University of London, and former Director of the Institute for the Study of the Americas at the University of London. He has written extensively on history and politics in the Americas. Previous titles include The Long War: Dictatorship and Revolution in El Salvador, Power in the Isthmus, and Americana: The Americas in the World, Around 1850. Publication