Robinson Crusoe

There is something archetypal and almost seductive about the idea of being stranded on a deserted island. The subject has never been better dealt with than in one of the English language's first novels, based on the true-life experience of a Scots shoemaker named Alexander Selkirk. This full-cast BBC production seamlessly follows Crusoe's 28-year struggle for survival through reedy-voiced, understated monologues, heartfelt flashbacks, and frighteningly realistic pirate and storm scenes. Through vocal nuances Crusoe is portrayed not as a hero, but as a flawed, resourceful, and altogether human character--most likely as Defoe intended. B.P. (c) AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine

February 1, 2003
Newly abridged by Timothy Meis, James Fenimore Cooper's The Last of the Mohicans comes to life under the paintbrush of N.C. Wyeth, with illustrations originally published in 1919. The artist offers readers a close-up view of the French and Indian War, in paintings such as British colonel Duncan's struggle against a Huron warrior or the Mohican Chingachgook similarly fighting off another Huron warrior in the clearing of a wood. Wyeth's paintings also accompany Meis's adaptation of Daniel DeFoe's Robinson Crusoe, due out in February.

Considered to be one of the first novels written in English, this work is a true gem. Defoe's story is much more than that of a man who leaves England to seek his riches in "the Brazils" and ends up shipwrecked on an island in the Caribbean. Defoe, whose theology was kin to that of the Puritans, describes the journey of a man who has run from God, only to find His providences in the midst of adversity and affliction. John Lescault has a pleasant and genteel-sounding English accent. His exceptionally clear delivery has near perfect inflection and pacing. M.T.F. (c) AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine