With an Introduction by Alex Dolby Jules Verne (1828-1905) is internationally famous as the author of a distinctive series of adventure stories describing new travel technologies which opened up the world and provided means to escape from it. The collective enthusiasm of generations of readers of his extraordinary voyages was a key factor in the rise of modern science fiction. In The Mysterious Island a group of men escape imprisonment during the American Civil War by stealing a balloon. Blown across the world, they are air-wrecked on a remote desert island. In a manner reminiscent of Robinson Crusoe, the men apply their scientific knowledge and technical skill to exploit the island s bountiful resources, eventually constructing a sophisticated society in miniature. The book is also an intriguing mystery story, for the island has a secret...
Bill Homewood's resonant bass is a fine match for Jules Verne's 1875 sprawling sequel to his landmark work TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA (1870). It's the end of the Civil War, and a small, intrepid band of Union soldiers takes off in a hot-air balloon to avoid capture by the Confederates. A terrifying storm whisks them 6,000 miles away to an uninhabited, uncharted island somewhere in the S
