Jules Verne (1828 - 1905)
Writer, Visionary, Pioneer
Read Jules Verne's classic novels online now for free.
Jules Verne is recognised as a pioneer of Science fiction. He is one of the very few authors whose work ranks alongside HG Wells for vision, invention and ingenuity.
Writing in the nineteenth century Jules Vernes works were astoundingly accurate in predicting submarines - more than 60 years before practical submarines appeared - and, space flight well over half a century before the first powered flights let alone space flights.
More importantly for his many fans, Jules Verne wrote brilliant science fiction novels. His best known works include:
In 20000 Leagues Under the Seas, Jules Verne give us a naturalist, his assistant, and a harpooner who join a party in search of a giant sea creature which has attacked a number of ships.
Incredibly they are knocked overboard only to find themselves saved by the monster. As everyone must know, the sea monster turns out to be the Nautilus - a submarine Captained by the enigmatic Captain Nemo.
20000 Leagues Under the Seas tells us the stories and wonders of their travels on the Nautilus. More importantly, it provides an expose of the brilliant but flawed Captain Nemo.
Somehow, most of us think of a hot air balloon as the mode of transport for Jules Verne's Around the World in Eighty Days. In point of fact, a hot air balloon is about the only means of transportation not employed by Phileas Fogg in his epic journey (though it is given a fleeting thought by the hero at one point).
Philieas Fogg is obsessive about punctuality. So, when his whist partners at the Reform Club tell him there is no way to go around the globe in just 80 days, Fogg creates a detailed itinerary involving specific boats and trains promises to make it possible.
Phileas Fogg immediately bets half his fortune that he can do it, setting out on his journey that very night. Passepartout, his newly hired manservant, finds himself dragged along on this historic journey.
When the members of the elite Baltimore Gun Club find themselves lacking any urgent assignments at the close of the Civil War, their president, Impey Barbicane, proposes that they build a gun big enough to launch a rocket to the moon. But when Barbicane's adversary places a huge wager that the project will fail and a daring volunteer elevates the mission to a "manned" flight, one man's dream turns into an international space race.
Now, you can read each of these incredible stories online for free. The first 3, 20000 Leagues Under the Seas, Around the World in 80 Days and From the Earth to the Moon are available on this site now.
We plan to add another book each month for the next few months.
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