Robinsoe Crusoe does get off the island, after twenty-eight years and two months, during which time he made the island prosper for him.

After twenty-eight years, an English ship arrives. Crusoe thinks this is odd, as his island is in Spanish, not British, territory. He finds that he is right to be suspicious, because the ship has come to his home as the result of a mutiny. The mutineers plan to leave the the captain and two other officers on the island, which they think is deserted. Crusoe frees the bound officers and helps them to capture the mutineers. Their ringleader is executed, and other mutineers are left behind to tend the island, with Crusoe showing them how to care for it.

Crusoe and Friday return to Europe. Initially, the adjustment is difficult for both men: Crusoe because he has been away for so long, and Friday because the cultures and climates are new to him. Crusoe, after initially believing he is poor, finds out that he has accumulated a fortune of five thousand pounds from his holdings in Brazil. He settles in England and adds to his wealth by marrying well. He and his wife have three children. After his wife dies, his wanderlust returns and he travels both to the far east and to Brazil.