English Explorer who traveled to Australia and circumnavigated the globe three times. His book A New Voyage Round the World was a major hit at the time it was released in 1697.
He wrote a book called A New Voyage Round the World that so impressed high-ranking British Navy officers that he was made the commander of a Royal Navy ship that traveled to western Australia.
He orchestrated the rescue of Alexander Selkirk, an event that may have inspired author Daniel Defoe's famous novel, Robinson Crusoe.
He was born in Somerset, England, and he studied in his youth at King's School, Bruton.
He and Sir Walter Raleigh were both important English explorers.
