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The Life, Adventures and Piracies of the Famous Captain Singleton is a novel by Daniel Defoe, originally published in 1720. It has been re-published multiple times since, the first edition in book form was published by London publisher, D. A. Talboys in 1840. Captain Singleton is believed to have been partly inspired by the exploits of the late 17th century English pirate Henry Every.
The narrative describes the life of the Englishman, Singleton, stolen from a well-to-do family as a child and raised by Gypsies, eventually making his way to sea. The first half of the book concerns Singleton's crossing of Africa, the second half concerning his life as a pirate in the Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea. Defoe's description of piracy focuses for the most part on matters of economics and logistics, and Singleton's pirate behaves more like a merchant adventurer, perhaps Defoe's comment on the mercantilism of his day.
Captain Singleton's abduction and sale as a young boy is a part of Defoe's exploration of slavery within the novel. Some studies have focused on Captain Singleton in relation to its 'commentary on African slavery', even suggesting that it might be read as a narrative of slavery. The notion that an English child can be "sold" (and invoked by the author in a casual manner as though it is not an unusual occurrence) indicates that slavery in the New World had not settled into racialized dichotomies. Defoe, through Singleton, comments extensively about different forms of enslavement (as both master and slave).
THE LIFE, ADVENTURES, AND PIRACIES OF CAPTAIN SINGLETON
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