Four of the most famous novels by one of, if not the, first writers of science fiction: Jules Verne. Tight, clean, flat, square, sharp and crisp book in lightly wrinkled DJ. Gift quality. This book was also issued in faux leather. The French novelist Jules Verne is acclaimed as the father of science fiction and as the man who invented the future. Far ahead of their time, his novels and stories were the products of visionary flights of the imagination that soared beyond the limits of nineteenth- century science. Today, although many of Verne's concepts have become reality, and others have been surpassed, his works still captivate. His novels are packed with fascinating and meticulous details as well as escapist thrills. *** When an unidentified ?monster? threatens international shipping, French oceanographer Pierre Aronnax and his unflappable assistant Conseil join an expedition organized by the US Navy to hunt down and destroy the menace. After months of fruitless searching, they finally grapple with their quarry, but Aronnax, Conseil, and the brash Canadian harpooner Ned Land are thrown overboard in the attack, only to find that the ?monster? is actually a futuristic submarine, the Nautilus, commanded by a shadowy, mystical, preternaturally imposing man who calls himself Captain Nemo. Thus begins a journey of 20,000 leagues?nearly 50,000 miles?that will take Captain Nemo, his crew, and these three adventurers on a journey of discovery through undersea forests, coral graveyards, miles-deep trenches, and even the sunken ruins of Atlantis. Jules Verne?s novel of undersea exploration has been captivating readers ever since its first publication in 1870. *** After hijacking a balloon from a Confederate camp, a band of five northern prisoners escapes the American Civil War. Seven thousand miles later, they drop from the clouds onto an uncharted volcanic island in the Pacific. Through teamwork, scientific knowledge, engineering, and perseverance, they endeavour to build a colony from scratch. But this island of abundant resources has its secrets. The castaways discover they are not alone. A shadowy, yet familiar, agent of their unfathomable fate is watching. What unfolds in Jules Verne?s imaginative marvel is both an enthralling mystery and the ultimate in survivalist adventures. *** An adventurous geology professor chances upon a manuscript in which a 16th-century explorer claims to have found a route to the earth's core. Professor Lidenbrock can't resist the opportunity to investigate, and with his nephew Axel, he sets off across Iceland in the company of Hans Bjelke, a native guide. The expedition descends into an extinct volcano toward a sunless sea, where they encounter a subterranean world of luminous rocks, antediluvian forests, and fantastic marine life ? a living past that holds the secrets to the origins of human existence. *** One night in the reform club, Phileas Fogg bets his companions that he can travel across the globe in just eighty days. Breaking the well-established routine of his daily life, he immediately sets off for Dover with his astonished valet Passepartout. Passing through exotic lands and dangerous locations, they seize whatever transportation is at hand?whether train or elephant?overcoming set-backs and always racing against the clock.