漂流记，漂流者和沉船在危险的航海时代

为了纪念《鲁滨逊漂流记》出版300周年，本书介绍了一些启发丹尼尔·笛福的故事——勇敢、勇气、决心和好运的故事。这本书讲述了笛福的一生，以及他的小说取得的巨大成功——有时被描述为第一部英语小说。它还考虑了人们发现自己被抛弃的一些原因——因为被毁坏、被遗弃作为惩罚、被海盗放逐——甚至是出于故意的选择。18世纪的主要飓风对航运造成了巨大的破坏和生命损失，以及船只失事时的灾难，这些灾难不是因为战争，而是因为人类的疏忽、愚蠢和厄运。
这本书讲述了在福克兰群岛、加勒比海和澳大利亚海岸面对逆境生存的惊人故事。这本书也许是其中最令人震惊的一个故事——60名奴隶被遗弃在印度洋一个荒无人烟的荒岛上，在那里生活了15年。令人惊讶的是，有些人顶住了所有的困难活了下来。这本书讲述了被抛弃如何在一些人身上展现出最好的一面，在另一些人身上展现出最糟糕的一面，讲述了谋杀、强奸和背叛的故事。
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Crusoe, Castaways and Shipwrecks in the Perilous Age of Sail
To mark the 300th anniversary of the publication of Robinson Crusoe, this book looks at some of the stories which inspired Daniel Defoe – stories of bravery, courage, determination and good fortune. It looks at Defoe’s life and the monumental success of his novel – sometimes described as being the first in the English language. It also considers some of the reasons why people found themselves cast away – as a result of being wrecked, by being abandoned as a punishment, marooned by pirates – or even out of deliberate choice. Major hurricanes in the 18th Century causing huge damage to shipping and loss of life are also looked at, along with catastrophes when ships were lost, not as a result of battles, but because of human negligence, sheer stupidity and bad luck.
The book looks at the astonishing tales of survival in the face of adversity – down in the Falklands, in the Caribbean and off the coast of Australia. It examines perhaps the most astonishing story of them all – sixty slaves abandoned on a desolate treeless island in the Indian Ocean and left there for fifteen years. Amazingly, some survived against all odds. It looks at how being cast away brings out the best in some – and in others the very worst, with stories of murder, rape and betrayal.
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