The classic, harrowing tale of a shipwrecked crew’s fight to survive in the deserts of North Africa—annotated and with a new introduction.

Listed by Abraham Lincoln, alongside the Bible and The Pilgrim’s Progress, as one of the books that most influenced his life, this is an enthralling account of the courage and perseverance it took one man and his crew to survive inconceivable hardship. Shipwrecked off the western coast of North Africa in August of 1815, James Riley and his crew could not have imagined the trials awaiting them as they gathered their beached belongings and considered their next move. They would be captured by a band of nomadic Arabs, herded across the Sahara desert, beaten, forced to witness astounding brutalities, sold into slavery, and starved. Riley watched most of his crew die one by one, killed off by cruelty or caprice, as his own weight dropped from 240 pounds to a mere 90 at the time of his rescue.

First published in 1817, this dramatic saga soon became a national bestseller with more than one million copies sold. Even today, it is rare to find a narrative that illuminates the degradations of slave existence with such brutal honesty.

Few true tales of adventure and survival are as astonishing as this one, and nearly two hundred years after the ordeal, the story continues to horrify, captivate, and inspire every new generation of readers.

With a new introduction and annotations by bestselling historian and writer Dean King, this is the definitive edition of one of the greatest survival stories ever written.