On the beach stood a tiny figure waving its arms and hollering. The figure had the shape of a man, but it was entirely covered in fur, like a Barbary ape. What was this thing? A new kind of animal? A monster? The wild thing was Alexander Selkirk, Scottish mariner and adventurer, who was delighted to be rescued by passing sailors after four years alone on a Pacific island. This is the story of how Selkirk came to be stranded on the island in 1705 and how he survived - the story of the real Robinson Crusoe.